Volume 63 Issue 28

UCRCHANNELH: ENGINEERING STUDENTS RAISE FUNDS TO BUILD AUTONOMOUS DRONE

THE UNDIE RUN

BUILDING CULTURE

STRIPPING FOR A CAUSE

BACK TO THE GRIND

20

Highlander University

Volume 63

of

12-13

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

Serving the UCR community since 1954

Issue 28

FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

[OUR]VOICE SWEEPS ASUCR ELECTIONS AMID CONTROVERSY

[OUR]Voice presidential candidate Ashley Harano is lifted up by her party members to celebrate their sweep of elected office.

COLIN MARKOVICH Senior Staff Writer

After a bruising month of elections filled with controversial campaigning and accusations of partisan bias, [OUR] Voice will take office later this year in a crushing victory, seizing control of all executive and director positions as well as 13 out of 16 senate seats. Students also voted on several referendums that are set to take effect next academic year.

[OUR]Voice presidential candidate and current personnel director Ashley Harano took the 2015-2016 ASUCR

presidency, winning the office over PAC candidate and current president pro tempore Devin Plazo 3,436 votes to 1,908 votes, taking 64.3 percent to Plazo’s 35.7 percent.

“As I am now elected, it is my duty to see through that these promises are kept to our students and that I represent and empower each student here at UC Riverside,” Harano said. “I am thankful that the student’s voice was heard, and with the approval of appeals from the Justices, I am proud that the student vote still mattered at UCR.” “Running a party is no easy task, but

ASUCR ELECTIONS

Election conflicts boil over AMY ZAHN Senior Staff Writer AARON GRECH Senior Staff Writer

Last Wednesday’s more than sixhour-long ASUCR senate meeting was rife with controversy as spectators overflowing from the room expressed both support for and opposition to recent actions taken by ASUCR, including the initial disqualification of all [OUR]Voice candidates from the election, which was repealed last Friday.

The meeting, held in the Student Services Building, was attended by over 100 students, with many chanting, “Where is the truth, the senate needs the boot!” and “Not your selection, this is our election!” 10 minutes into the

meeting, halting its progress. Executive Vice President and recently elected Vice President of Internal Affairs Michael Ervin deemed the meeting out of order and called for adjournment; however, the senate only went into recess.

“I feel like they don’t want anybody to be heard … the [OUR]Voice people are being very immature and aggressive and it’s sad to see that,” said fourthyear anthropology major Sarah Cavazos about the disruption.

Newly elected [OUR]Voice senator Wen-Yu Chou, however, disagreed.

“The chanting has to be heard. They took our voice away,” she commented during the recess.

ASUCR President Nafi Karim, Par► SEE ASUCR CONFLICTS, PAGE 4

I’ve had the pleasure of working with the most honest and conscious individuals running,” Plazo said. “It’s UCR’s loss that these individuals were not elected.”

The races for executive cabinet were also disappointing for PAC and [YOU] CR. In the race for executive vice president, [OUR]Voice’s Armando Saldana reclaimed his seat after losing last year’s presidential race, earning 56.1 percent of all ballots cast, and defeating runner-up Taylor Valmores of PAC and Nilan Gunewardena of [YOU]CR, who came in a distant third. Similarly, cur-

VINCENT TA / HIGHLANDER

rent Executive Vice President Michael Ervin will rejoin ASUCR next year as vice president of internal affairs, dispatching his only opponent, PAC candidate Valeria Allende, by a 62.8-to-37.2 percent margin.

The closest executive cabinet race was that for vice president of external affairs. Mohamed Hussein of [OUR] Voice easily took the office with 55.1 percent of the vote, defeating Neftali Galarza of PAC and Senator Summer ► SEE ELECTIONS, PAGE 6

THE LAB

“The Brown Recluse Spider” book bites misconceptions

AARON GRECH Senior Staff Writer

Former UCR researcher Richard Vetter has published a book entitled “The Brown Recluse Spider” to correct misinformation associated with the arachnid. The book was released to the general public in March by Cornell Press.

Vetter, who retired from UCR in 2012, began writing the book seven years ago during flights to pest control associations on the East Coast. It wasn’t until his retirement, however, that he began to develop the project more thoroughly.

“It became the first thing on my retirement bucket list. I, then, sat down

NEWS 1 • OPINIONS 8 • A&E 11 • FEATURES 19 • SPORTS 24

and read about 200 papers on brown recluses that were in my reprint library assembled over the last 35 years,” Vetter stated.

Brown recluses are spiders between 6 to 20 millimeters and known for their venomous bites. To clarify misconceptions, the book discusses taxonomy — the classification of organisms — along with information on how to identify recluses to differentiate them from harmless non-recluses.

According to Vetter, common misunderstandings include the areas recluses inhabit and the nature of their bites. As a result of these misconceptions, up to ► SEE RECLUSE, PAGE 7

PLEASE RECYCLE

2

NEWS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

Riverside police test out body cameras MELA MAGAT Contributing Writer

A total of 20 patrol, metro and traffic police officers have volunteered to test the use of body cameras as part of a 60-day trial, according to the Riverside Police Department (RPD). Starting on May 1, the trial will be used to help the department develop its policy regarding body camera technology and usage in the future.

Lieutenant Chad Milby of the RPD Community Service Bureau said that the use of body cameras were discussed within the department for a few years, but the proper equipment and technology only recently became available.

Although the use of body cameras is currently being tested, the use of recording technology is not new. According to Milby, dashboard cameras have been used for over 12 years.

Playing a primary role in the trial phase, Riverside Lieutenant Bruce Loftus stated that though the dashboard cameras were successful, they could only be used in a vehicle, encouraging the department to think of other ways to expand camera technology.

“Some body cameras can be worn on your head like glasses, some can be worn on the shoulder lapel … what we chose to use is one worn on the chest

area of the officer,” stated Loftus. The camera is activated by flipping the lens up. It will be visible to any civilian who may be confronted by a participating officer.

Although he sees this as a step up from dashboard cameras, Milby said that body cameras still have their limitations.

“It’s only one-view, you can’t see what’s going (to the) right or to the left,” he said. “You’re just seeing what’s in front of (the police officer) which is something the public and police have to take into consideration.”

The technology will be evaluated based on its functionality and how helpful it is as evidence in criminal cases. The cameras are being provided by a vendor free of charge for the duration of the trial period, according to Loftus.

If successful, the program will extend to all traffic and patrol officers and hold an initial cost of $300,000. Discussions about local funding depend on the success of the 60-day trial, but Milby thinks that some federal funding may come through.

Announced in late 2014, the Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Pilot Partnership Program is part of President Barack Obama’s plan to invest $75 million over the course of three years to help purchase 50,000 body cameras for law enforcement agencies nationally.

COURTESY OF SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Some Riverside police officers will test out body cameras for 60 days.

The program comes at a time when tensions have heightened between police officers and minorities in various cities, leading to an outbreak of demonstrations across the country. Recently, a 25-year-old African American man, Freddie Gray, suffered fatal injuries during an encounter with Baltimore police officers.

Kevin Mitton, a fifth-year UCR computer science major, claims to have been stopped 10 times in the last three years by Riverside officers without being given a traffic violation, and furthered that one instance involved a gun which was prematurely drawn on him. “I believe if a body camera had been worn, I may have not even been stopped,” said Mitton. “Accountability needs to be instilled on police officers in light of situations (involving police brutality) that have been happening

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

across the United States.”

Loftus emphasized body cameras will also help increase accountability between officers and the public. “The cameras will help with officer complaints too because if a citizen makes an allegation against an officer, video will show for the most part if it happened or not,” said Loftus.

Many students agreed that body cameras would help increase accountability and transparency, but are concerned about the potential misuse that may be associated with the new technology.

Second-year linguistics major Johnson Pham, who also led the Stop Police Brutality/UCR Stands with Ferguson protest in October 2014, sees the body cameras as a step in the right direction, but believes it is not the end-all solution to keeping

officers in check. “There is also the issue of who is reviewing the footage, and who can be held accountable if for some reason, footage is lost, or the camera happened to be malfunctioning,” Pham said.

Breana Ross, campus organizing director of the ASUCR office of external affairs, said that the cameras would help improve accountability and transparency, but felt that video evidence has not been fully utilized.

“In the media there has been multiple cases of police brutality in which footage has been recorded, but justice has not been served,” she said, referencing the death of Eric Garner, in which a recording of the incident did not lead up to a conviction.

■H Breana Ross is a former advertising representative at the Highlander.

QUOTEBOOK “At the end of the day we are student representatives no matter if you won or lost.”

-Executive Vice President-elect Armando Saldana on election results

MULTIMEDIA

f

UCR Highlander Newspaper @ucrhighlander UCRChannelH

JANINE YBANEZ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

“Releasing Misconceptions”: As part of Feminism Awareness Week, students wrote misconceptions about feminism on biodegradable balloons and released them by the Bell Tower.

KUCR 88.3 FM, Wednesdays @ 9 a.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS

SPRING 2015, WEEK 7

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

5/12

5/13

5/14

5/15

5/16

5/17

5/18

Undocuqueer Panel 4- 5 p.m.

HUB 379

International Mixer 6 - 8 p.m.

HUB 302

Endnote Basic 4:10 - 5 p.m.

Rivera Libary 140

World Music Celebration 7 - 10 p.m.

ARTS 166

UCR Chamber Music Ensembles 8 - 9:30 p.m.

ARTS 166

The Princeton Review Information Table 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Bell Tower

Learning Glass Showcase 10 - 11 a.m.

Olmsted Hall A-139

Color on the Silver Screen 6 - 7 p.m.

HUB 379

Wellness Wedneday: So Last Chance Job Fair You Think You Can Party? 11 a.m. - 3p.m.

HUB 302 4 - 6 p.m.

HUB 269

2nd Annual Pre-Health and Pre-Medical Conference 8 a.m - 5 p.m The HUB

Casserole Cooking Demo 5 - 8 p.m.

SRC South - Classroom Kitchen

Department of Theatre, UCR Relay for Life Film, and Digital 10 a.m - 10 a.m Production Film Festival Blaine Sports Complex 8 - 10 p.m.

ARTS 113

4

NEWS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

► ASUCR CONFLICTS FROM PAGE 1

liamentarian Mohamed Hussein and Ervin did not rejoin the session when ASUCR reconvened roughly an hour later, deeming the session unconstitutional.

President Pro Tempore Devin Plazo chaired the session, warning the crowd that students who continued disrupting would be reported to student conduct. Public comment recommenced, with members of the galley bringing forth concerns in regards to [OUR]Voice’s disqualification.

“Where is the concrete, 100 percent fact that you’ve seen us laptop? … We all deny that video … we need the facts to confirm everything, and that’s what I’m asking for,” said [OUR]Voice candidate Kevin Chau, referring to a video that allegedly shows [OUR]Voice volunteers laptopping — carrying a mobile device and persuading students to vote for candidates on that device — in a residence hall.

Members of [OUR]Voice have stated that the video is illegitimate because the faces of the laptoppers are not visible. Others contend that the video proves the party violated two sections of the elections code, which bans laptopping as well as campaigning in residence halls.

Each [OUR]Voice candidate initially received four or more strikes for charges varying from passing out promotional items without permission to illegally campaigning near polling sites and within oncampus housing. According to the elections code, three strikes result in disqualification from the elections.

Ervin as well as current personnel director and recently elected president Ashley Harano, both members of [OUR]Voice, each received a total of five violations. One strike was granted due to their prior association with [YOUR]Side, which was found guilty of carrying out discriminatory practices.

Vice President of External Affairs Abraham Galvan responded to Chau’s allegations that the decision to assign strikes based on the video was unfair. “We don’t need 100 percent proof to know that something is going on and to address an issue.

There’s levels of evidence that are required for different things and when the committee that is specifically tasked to review those cases finds that there is enough evidence … that’s when decisions are made,” he said.

Following public forum, ASUCR moved into a closed session to vote on whether to censure Karim and Ervin. Approximately 10 members of the galley occupied the elevator to prevent the closed session from taking place, only leaving after a campus administrator called UCPD when they did not comply with his requests for them to leave.

Karim and Ervin Censured, ECAB Overhaul The senate reconvened in open session after roughly two hours, during which they voted 10-0-1 to censure Karim, and 10-0-2 to censure Ervin. A censured individual retains his or her title, but is not paid and is barred from performing the duties of their position.

Among the charges levied against Karim were: failure to serve

as an ASUCR student representative on the city task force committee, failure to serve as chair of the ASUCR officers cabinet, failure to chair all executive cabinet meetings and failure to attend senate meetings, in addition to several other charges.

Charges levied against Ervin were, among other things, failure to be well-versed in parliamentary procedure, failure to organize and conduct swearing-in ceremonies for all newly elected ASUCR officials and failure to hold one-on-one meetings with each senator once per quarter to discuss goals and performance.

Vice President of Internal Affairs Fernando Echeverria was named acting president by a unanimous vote, and Senator Reem Blaik was named acting executive vice president by a vote of 6-2-1. Former ASUCR senator Ranjit Nair was chosen by an 8-2-1 vote as acting vice president of internal affairs.

“Setting up this precedent of justice and integrity in ASUCR is going to be remembered for years … this is great and you’ve really brought integrity back to the office,” said second-year political science major and [YOU]CR candidate Eddie Franco about the decision to censure the two.

As of press time, Neither Ervin nor Karim have responded to requests for comment.

[OUR]Voice disqualification repealed After a number of judicial appeals, the remaining three justices repealed violations against [OUR] Voice last Friday shortly before elections results became public because the legitimacy of the charges levied against the party could not be verified, according to a statement released by the judicial branch. The party swept the elections, winning every executive cabinet position and 13 out of 16 seats in the senate, with PAC and [YOU]CR winning the remaining three.

Although the branch still does not meet quorum, an agreement was made during a closed meeting on Monday between ASUCR and members of administration to allow the three remaining justices to handle appeals. After the elections, the senate will be looking for justices to fill remaining spots so that the branch can reach quorum and commence handling cases once again.

“It is in our opinion that there is no current objective method to validate claims of laptopping,” reads the statement. “It is illogical to try and prove or substantiate grounds of objectivity in an area that is almost completely subjective.”

The results remained controversial, as one of the three justices left the May 8 meeting for more than two hours, calling into question the legitimacy of the ruling.

The judicial branch maintains that the ruling was still unanimous, and that the final decision was made while all three justices were present.

Elections Director Stephanie Rose, as of press time, has not commented on whether this issue will be brought forward at the next meeting.

■H Contributions made by Colin Markovich

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

ASUCR Elections: Timeline of events WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29

6 p.m.

- ASUCR removes acting Chief Justice Melina Reyes and Justice Daniel Ojo from Judicial Branch for failing to uphold duties, including leaking information about a pending case and a lack of timely responses to elections violations.

Result: Justices no longer meet quorum, abdicate decision-making about elections cases

to elections committee.

- Allegations of laptopping brought up against [OUR]Voice.

Result: Senate removes bylaw and allows students who witnessed laptopping incidences

to file complaints

THURSDAY, APRIL 30 1:09 p.m.

- Executive Vice President Michael Ervin sends mass email stating that the senate did not follow proper procedure and declaring the justices’ removal unconstitutional.

8:24 p.m.

- President Nafi Karim sends out public press release, initiating an executive order to reinstate the removed justices.

FRIDAY, MAY 1 12:46 a.m.

- ASUCR announces emergency senate meeting to overturn Karim’s executive order.

4:20 a.m.

- Judicial branch releases statement that they met on April 30 and declared both the removal of the two justices and the scheduled emergency senate meeting unconstitutional.

7 a.m.

-Eight senators attend emergency meeting, unanimously overturn executive order.

Result: Two justices stay removed and the judicial branch does not meet quorum. Judicial

branch continues making rulings.

SUNDAY, MAY 3 12:55 p.m.

- Ojo asks UCR administration to instruct ASUCR senate to abide by ruling made by judicial council.

7:22 p.m.

- Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Jim Sandoval schedules closed meeting between ASUCR representatives and administrators.

MONDAY, MAY 4 7 p.m.

- Closed meeting to discuss whether ASUCR followed their own constitution and bylaws.

Result: Attendees reach compromise; create third-party to review constitutionality of

justices’ removal; allow justices to meet without quorum and make verdicts on election

appeals.

TUESDAY, MAY 5 -ASUCR Elections Committee disqualifies [OUR]Voice for multiple violations involving laptopping and illegally campaigning near polling sites and in on-campus housing.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6 6 p.m.

-Over 100 students attend senate meeting to volley arguments for and against [OUR]Voice’s disqualification. ASUCR holds closed meeting, votes to censure Karim and Ervin for failing to uphold duties.

FRIDAY, MAY 8 6 p.m.

-Judicial Branch allows disqualified [OUR]Voice candidates to continue running, deems laptopping allegations to be “almost completely subjective.” [OUR]Voice party sweeps elections.

Result: Ervin and Karim still censured from current positions. Ervin elected as 2015-16

Vice President of Internal Affairs.

WRITE

AT THE HIGHLANDER, YOU CAN: MEETINGS EVERY MONDAY AT 5 P.M. @ HUB 101

DESIGN SHOOT

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

NEWS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

5

Congressman encourages education reform in UCR lecture AMY ZAHN Senior Staff Writer

U.S. Congressman Mark Takano spoke to UCR students and faculty last Wednesday about the struggles minority communities face and what can be done to help. The talk was part of the School of Public Policy’s seminar series, in which influential policymakers are invited to discuss both regional and global issues.

Takano, a Democrat, has served on the Riverside Community College Board of Trustees since 1990.

Joined by a packed room, Takano began by outlining the difficulties minorities face and why. “Fifty years after the civil rights movement, minorities in this country are still struggling,” he said. “What is it about our system that is allowing this to happen?”

According to Takano, Hispanics have 10 times less household wealth than white Americans, and people of color make up 42 percent of people in minimum-wage jobs, despite making up only 32 percent of the workforce. He also emphasized Riverside’s rising rent costs, citing a 52 percent increase since 2007, and the prohibitive costs of obtaining a degree for both lowincome families and the middle class.

The disparity, he explained, starts with the education system. He attributes much of the problem to the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, which requires K-12 schools to administer standardized tests to receive federal funding.

“While it played a key role in shedding light on the serious opportunity gap in our system … (the act) instituted a regime of high stakes, low quality standardized tests throughout our K-12 education system, and used those test scores to punish the schools that needed help the most,” he said. “Teachers and schools were forced to spend nearly every minute of instructional time prepping for tests, essentially eliminating room for creative, project-based learning.”

This, he said, leads to students being underprepared for college, forcing them into remedial classes. Thirty percent of African American and 29 percent of Hispanic students were enrolled in remedial college courses in 2008, compared to only 20 percent of white students. Remedial courses, Takano said, lengthen the time it takes to earn a degree, making college more expensive and delaying employment.

Even worse than that, he said, is the crippling loan debt that 81 percent of African American students and 67 percent of Hispanic students are saddled with after graduation, preventing them from starting businesses, buying houses and contributing to the economy to their full potential.

“These are the barriers that a young person faces, and those barriers become even more difficult if you are a young Hispanic or a young African American, so it’s not surprising to see that so many low-income or minority students decide to end their pursuit of higher education,” he said.

Takano offered several solutions to these issues, including repealing No Child Left Behind.

“We must get rid of the ‘one size fits all’ federally prescribed accountability and intervention system,” he said, as well as touting the importance of addressing the cost of higher education and

doing more to assist people with “crushing amounts of student debt.”

He also discussed the benefits of raising the minimum wage, which, according to Takano, would bring 2 million people out of poverty.

A student from the audience inquired about the cause of Riverside’s climbing rents. “Is that the result of gentrification, or something else?” she asked, referring to the process by which wealthier residents displace those of lower income, leading to increased property values.

“I think what’s happening here is more complicated,” Takano answered. When people lose their houses to foreclosure, they often look for properties to rent. According to Takano, this leads to “big hedge fund Wall Street folks” purchasing property in bulk and renting them out, driving up costs.

Takano urges today’s students to get involved in the fight for education reform. “For the young people in the audience, there is a seat at the table for you,” he said. “I know you can help make the American dream a reality once again.”

CAMERON YONG / HIGHLANDER

U.S. Representative Mark Takano speaks on limitations in public school systems, specifically targeting standardized testing and college tuition during a seminar in INTS 1128.

6

NEWS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS

SENATE RESULTS

[YOU]CR PAC 2

64.3% 3,436 VOTES

35.7%

ASHLEY HARANO [OUR]VOICE

DEVIN PLAZO PAC

1,908 VOTES

13

1

[OUR]VOICE

► ELECTIONS FROM PAGE 1

VINCENT TA / HIGHLANDER [OUR]Voice candidates Katherine Tatley and Nick Carillo rejoice as they hear the results of the ASUCR elections.

REFERENDUM RESULTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT #1 1,463 VOTES

32.3%

2,938 VOTES

66.7%

NO

YES

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT #2

26.1%

73.9%

1,200 VOTES

NO

3,412 VOTES

YES

CALPIRG INITIATIVE

2,257 VOTES

52.5%

2,488 VOTES

42.7%

NO

YES

HIGHLANDER EMPOWERMENT REFERENDUM

43.9% NO

2,089 VOTES

2,685 VOTES

56.1% YES

Shafer of [YOU]CR. [OUR]Voice candidates experienced similar levels of success for the director positions, as they went three for three.

Emily Yang will take office as next year’s personnel director, Kevin Chau will become the next outreach director and Katherine Cheng will oversee ASUCR’s marketing efforts as the next marketing and promotions director.

In the downballot senate races, [OUR]Voice candidates won every race they competed in, winning one of two BCOE seats, two of four CNAS seats and all 10 CHASS seats to own a three-fourths majority in the senate. PAC won one BCOE seat and one CNAS seat, while [YOU]CR managed to scrape off a single CNAS seat.

Nicolas Alves, a third-year business major, voted for candidates from all three parties, but added that he appreciated [OUR]Voice reaching out to students on a consistent basis.

Second-year sociology major Brenda Tigerino, on the other hand, voted for PAC. “I didn’t like the other parties, because when they came up to me, they told me I had to vote,” she said.

The results come after four weeks of campaigning that at times turned harsh, with accusations of illegal campaign activities such as laptopping, duelling allegations of partisan bias on the part of members of ASUCR and the censure of elected officials. An especially contentious moment came when the elections committee disqualified the entire slate of [OUR]Voice candidates, resulting in mass disruptions occurring during a meeting last Wednesday. The ruling was later overturned by three members of the judicial council.

Elections Director Stephanie Rose disagreed with the judicial branch’s decision, feeling that the branch failed to clearly explain why the appeals were accepted. “Perhaps if they provided a more clear and thorough analysis, I would understand their decisions,” Rose said.

Highlanders also voted on four different referendums on this year’s ballot. After a narrow 3-point loss last year, students approved of the Highlander Empowerment Referendum by 56.1 percent, 2,685 votes to 2,089 votes. The

measure will increase funding for seven campus diversity organizations, such as Chicano Student Programs and Native American Student Programs, via a $14 student fee.

Nancy Tubbs, director of the LGBT Resource Center, explained that “passage of the referendum means we can keep a critical staff position. It means we can start planning with students our programs and services for next year from a secure place.”

Students also approved two amendments to the ASUCR constitution.

Constitutional Amendment No. 1, which changes the way the elections director and vice president of finance are selected in addition to other revisions, was supported by 66.7 percent of students. 2,938 students voted in favor and 1,463 voted against.

Constitutional Amendment No. 2 was also approved by 73.1 percent of the vote, the largest margin of any of the four referendums, and will result in the creation of a transfer/nontraditional student director that will sit in the ASUCR senate chambers. 3,412 students voted to support the amendment and 1,200 students opposed it.

The only ballot measure that failed to pass was the CALPIRG Initiative, which went down to a narrow defeat by 231 out of 4,741 votes, or just 4.8 percent of all votes cast. The initiative would have been a purely nonbinding reflection of student opinion on adding a $2.50 student fee to support CALPIRG’s UCR chapter.

Student turnout numbered 35.1 percent this year, down from last year’s record high of 38 percent, but still above average and far above the 20 percent threshold required to make elections results official.

“I’m very proud of the work the candidates did to advertise Elections and achieve such a high voter turn out,” Rose said, explaining that turnout was maintained despite decreasing the elections season to four weeks.

However, others were unsatisfied and thought improvements needed to be made.

“I just feel like now it sets a precedent … for how much faith I put in ASUCR, which is very little,” Kat Zoque, a second-year ethnic studies and gender and sexuality studies double-major. “Now I have less of a reason to organize through ASUCR.” ■H

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

NEWS IN BRIEF

NEWS

COMPILED BY SANDY VAN, AMY ZAHN, SENIOR STAFF WRITERS ROHAN MURGAI, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

UCR professor named a Pulitzer finalist UC Riverside creative writing professor Laila Lalami was recently named a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in fiction — an award given to American authors for literary achievements — for her book entitled “The Moor’s Account,” a work of historical fiction that sheds light on a side of history that Lalami feels is too often overlooked.

The book, which took her four and a half years to write, tells the story of

Estebanico — a Moroccan slave who is said to be the first black explorer of America — on a 16th century Spanish expedition to the New World. What compelled her to tell Estebanico’s story, she said, was history’s sidelining of people like him. “At the heart of my novel is a concern with history — who writes it and who is erased from it,” she said.

Although Lalami did not receive the Pulitzer, she was one of only three final-

ists for this category. “It’s a huge honor for me,” she said. “And it’s also a special delight for me to see Estebanico receive a bit of recognition, even if it is in the form of a novel.”

“The Moor’s Account” is also a finalist for the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award, the winner of which will be announced in October of this year.

Notable Pulitzer winners include Harper Lee and Toni Morrison.

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

7

UCR community considers scenarios for expanding campus A second physical planning workshop was held on April 27 to discuss four scenarios, with each serving as a tool for understanding potential areas of campus expansion. Gathering in HUB 302, workshop participants were asked to choose one scenario as a starting point for creating their preferred, future campus framework. Another portion of the event was later held at the University Extension that same day.

The four scenarios involved: increasing density within the campus core, strengthening the connection between campus and city, increasing development in the southern part of campus or connecting the existing core of east campus with new development around a second gateway on the north edge of east campus.

“Each scenario assumed minimal development on west campus in the near term, with a few options showing transit

or event or academic facilities on west campus adjacent to the existing core of east campus,” explained Interim Director of Capital Programs Barbara Lloyd.

Graduate Student Association Vice President of Academic Affairs Danae Khorasani, who participated in the workshop, wanted to contribute some of her ideas for increasing campus safety and creating welcoming spaces for international students.

“I hope that the campus will be more suited to address student needs such as transportation,” Khorasani expressed.

“Placing safer bike pathways is (also) a big concern.”

The workshops are part of the Physical Master Plan Study for 2020, which seeks to increase accessibility to academic and research facilities, potential gateways for welcoming the campus and inviting spaces to ease campus traffic.

UCR researchers receive grant to develop wastewater techniques Researchers from UCR and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem were awarded a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a two-year study aimed at maximizing the use of treated municipal wastewater in agriculture.

The study seeks to curtail the devastating effects of the state drought ► THE LAB FROM PAGE 1

meetings on mondays, 5:15 p.m. @ hub 101

for the highlander newspaper

write

. sho

ot. d

esig

n.

80 percent of reported brown recluse bites may be misdiagnosed, according to the book. “(Physicians) should realize that brown recluses are NOT all over the continent, that recluse bites are most often mild in expression and that there are many medical conditions that result in skin lesions that physicians and other medical personnel in the past have misdiagnosed as brown recluse bites,” Vetter said.

Vetter stated that this misinformation can potentially harm patients who have misdiagnosed lesions. “Some of these conditions are potentially fatal so getting misdiagnosed can be a very dangerous situation,” he explained.

Since the release of the book, Vetter continues to pursue this research further, specifically on how circadian rhythms — physical and mental changes caused by the 24-hour cycle — affects the mating process for the recluse. By analyzing these changes, Vetter will be able to advise companies on how much pesticide to use while fumigating.

“Currently fumigation companies have no idea what levels kill recluse eggs so they use the maximum legal limit which may be overkill and a waste of pesticide, and hence, waste of money,” Vetter elaborated.

By addressing this book to the general public as opposed to academic circles, Vetter hopes to correct these misconceptions.

“There was a need for a brown recluse book for the general public, and that is the niche this book fulfills,” Vetter added in a press release.

■H

and serves as a response to Governor Jerry Brown’s recent mandatory water restrictions.

With a specialization in water pollution and salinity, UCR associate professor of environmental economics and policy Kurt Schwabe is co-leader of the research team, “Enhanced Resilience of Local Agricul-

tural Water Supplies through Reuse of Municipal and Agricultural Water: A Dynamic Economic Analysis.”

Schwabe and his partner David Jassby, assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering, will investigate efficient ways to balance the increasing costs of and techniques used for water treatment while

determining its impact on crop yield.

The team plans to help local water agencies find cost-efficient techniques for treating wastewater in processing plants.

“Our hope is that wastewater utilities can engineer their treatment trains to meet the demands of farmers so we can better reuse wastewater

in a way that is cost-effective, rather than send it to the ocean,” Jassby said in a press release. “In the long term, we hope we will be able to optimize wastewater treatment processes so they are better matched to the agricultural end uses of the water. To the best of our knowledge, no one is ■H looking at this kind of model.”

8

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

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T

his year’s ASUCR elections have finally drawn to a close. Finally.

Most national elections are not about issues. Instead, they’re about personalities or scandals as candidates bring out the big guns to nuke their opponents into oblivion. This year, ASUCR candidates proved they are the same as their national counterparts, with all the mudslinging and personal attacks that entails.

The campaign season, which started at the beginning of spring quarter, was always competitive. And competition’s not a bad thing — it inspires students to turn out and gives us actual choices when we go to the ballot box. This year, however, those competitive spirits resulted in a weeks-long war as officeholders sought to use their positions for political gain, heedless of any concepts of fairness, checks on authority or respect for the people and institution of ASUCR. The end result has been to paralyze student government for weeks on end and drag the reputation of ASUCR through the mud.

At an April 30 ASUCR meeting, attendees alleged that one political party had been engaged in illegal campaign practices, and that the same party had been favored by ASUCR’s judicial branch when the matter was adjudicated. ASUCR members chose to levy charges against two of the justices, arguing that they had failed to do their jobs and notifying them only hours in advance of their pending trial. After senators voted to remove them from office, the judicial branch could no longer legally meet according to the ASUCR constitution — effectively dismantling one-third of the three branches of student government for almost purely political purposes.

The allegations of illegal campaigning are themselves disheartening. Regardless of whether they are true, they say something about the willingness of students to engage in the types of negative campaigning we say we are against.

On top of that, what happened next was a mind-numbing, back-and-forth proxy war as both political factions struggled to gain the upper hand. Over the next 48 hours, each branch made conflicting determinations about the legality of those actions.

Some members argued that the judicial branch could still meet, and in an email sent to just a few members of ASUCR (only later made public), an executive order was issued that overturned the senate’s actions and reinstated the justices. The following morning, senators held an emergency meeting and voted to overturn the reinstatement.

Meanwhile, the judicial branch believed itself to be back in session and itself issued a ruling stating that the senate’s meeting was unconstitutional, voiding the overturning of the executive order.

Are you confused? You have every right to be: ASUCR’s actions over the past two weeks are an exercise in opacity, obfuscation, partisanship and dubious morality.

Given every candidate’s solemn pledges to make ASUCR more transparent, one would imagine that a handful of members would actually seek to carry out that promise. But the result has only been vague promises that violate the trust that ASUCR must maintain if it is to continue operating effectively.

They have first betrayed the trust of students. All the political maneuvering between ASUCR has left the impression that our elected officials only serve for their own gain, and no branch manages to come out of this looking honest. Conflicts of interest are everywhere, with the executive branch, senate and judicial council each taking actions to favor one or another of the political parties, which just so happen to be the ones they support. How can the student body trust any part of ASUCR now that all three branches, which are all supposed to check one another, have instead descended into trench warfare?

Campus administrators are also watching what is happening, and imagine what is going through their heads right now. What they see are bands of immature students bickering among themselves, unable to rise above petty disputes in favor of potentially breaking rules and irresponsibly abusing political power. This was epitomized when a member of ASUCR called on campus administration to settle the spat between students. What does it say about us when we as students cannot be responsible enough to work through our own problems? There’s no reason for UC administrators to take us seriously when we can’t even run our own elections without scandal. ASUCR is supposed to be an independent governing body, capable of making its own reasoned, responsible decisions.

Apparently not.

All of the actions ASUCR has taken in the past few weeks have only heightened mistrust in the organization — and it will be increasingly difficult for ASUCR to operate successfully in an institution whose currency is trust. This is a problem because the institution of ASUCR is capable of great things. It can provide much-needed funds to campus organizations who undertake charitable causes. It can advocate for

LAURA NGUYEN / HIGHLANDER

student needs that are overlooked by legislators. It can bring solutions to everyday student problems, and is unique in having opportunities to do so.

Yet when the elections cycle devolves into accusations of malintent and infighting among elected officials, it is clear that something in the institution must change.

Perhaps a way to start is to rid ourselves of the party system. Originally started as a way to increase competition, the idea may have worked too well. By grouping candidates together on slates, an attack on the party feels like an attack on each of the individuals who are a part of it. As a result, candidates believe every accusation is a personal attack and respond in kind. It’s no surprise that relations between candidates then become strained and end up in people lashing out at their rivals. Competition is good, but not if it results in predominantly uncivil discourse — it’s not productive and only results in hurt feelings.

Structurally, changes also need to be made in the duties and appointment of our government officials. More people need to be involved in the selection of justices so that the judicial branch is accountable to our entire elected government rather than just a small subsection. Justices should seriously consider recusing themselves from cases they have conflicts of interest in, or are perceived to have conflicts of interest in.

Additionally, many of the elected positions, especially the director positions, should be made nonpartisan so there can be no allegations of bias. We have already made one step forward in approving constitutional changes that make the elections director an appointed position, but we must continue to watch and ensure that new elected officials do not abuse their powers.

But there are only so many structural changes that can be made. At a certain point, people have to behave responsibly, and no amount of procedural safeguards can protect against elected officials who neglect their duties or are actively malicious in their intent. As UCR students, we must hold our student government to a higher standard — and so must our elected officials.

We always hear that students are the future leaders of the world. If this year’s ASUCR elections are an accurate representation, however, we have serious work to do.

■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.

OPINIONS

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

9

Opinion Poll Should UCR allow the sale of alcohol on campus?

C ompiled

by

L aura N guyen

Aldric Constantino Biology Third-year

Anh La Biology Third-Year

Jackie Ballesteros Biology Third-Year

Victoria Truong Public Policy Third-Year

Richard Escajeda Mechanical Engineering Fifth-Year

“No, I think it is a very dumb idea. I understand that the college experience includes alcohol, but if you want to be involved in alcohol related events then it should be off campus.”

“Selling alcohol on campus would be okay if it was during Heat or Block Party at the Beer Gardens, where it is contained and monitored.

It would be inappropriate to see your professor or your TA grabbing a beer on campus.”

“Alochol shouldn’t be sold on campus because it would be abused by many of the students during school.”

“Not necessarily on campus where it is easily accessible to the students.”

“It is fine since the Barn is more secluded on campus.

It makes sense if there is a show or a band playing there to serve alcohol. “

‘Do no harm’ should go beyond doctors

► See more at Youtube.com/UCRChannelH

‘If you want a symbolic gesture’ JAMESON ADAME Senior Staff Writer

DANIEL GARCIA / HIGHLANDER

QUINN MINTEN Staff Writer

Anyone who watches TV the original way, with the seemingly one-to-one ratio of actual programming to commercials, has probably seen commercials advertising the latest prescription medicine. Medical science seems to put out a new treatment every month or so for medical problems ranging from diabetes to hepatitis.

This, in and of itself, is not a problem; it is admirable that there is so much effort being made to overcome the maladies of today.

The problem is, just as often as there are ads for medicines, there are commercials proclaiming that one of these medications has caused someone unexpected harm, prompting a lawsuit against the manufacturer. In these cases, there is presumably a large number of people who developed complications not described on the warning label of the product. In other words, they did not know they were taking a cure that could kill the patient.

It is extremely unfortunate that some people are harmed by the medicine they take, especially if it ends up being fatal, but what makes such deaths tragic is that they probably could have been avoided. Every drug has to be evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for safety before being released to consumers.

The issue, however, is that a majority of drugs under development today are put on special approval pathways

that expedite the process of approving the drug. New drugs reach the public before they get the testing that would have been required in years past, meaning that potential problems with taking drugs may go unnoticed.

The primary motive for pharmaceutical companies to push Congress into approving these special programs — and they spend hundreds of millions of dollars on such lobbying — is greed, pure and simple. The reasoning is equally simple: the faster a drug is approved for sale (regardless of whether it has had adequate testing done), the sooner it can begin turning a profit; and profit they do, to the tune of $300 billion a year. Granted, these companies must have some interest in helping people afflicted with disease, which is the stated reason for the FDA’s special approval paths that intend to expedite treatments for serious illness, but one look at the dollar signs and one realizes that they are in it for the money.

There should be no excuse for a company to sell a product that can end up harming its user for reasons not explicitly described on the package. Therefore, the punitive lawsuits that result when pharmaceutical companies distribute inadequately tested drugs are the punishment they deserve.

However, while financial compensation might be marginally acceptable for victims of the damage caused by these companies’ faulty products, it would be better if there were no cause

for anyone to be a victim in the first place. Enforcing the original approval process with no shortcuts except in exceptional (read: not the majority of) cases, so that all the potential side effects of a new drug are discovered and addressed, would prevent consumers from having to face the pain of injury or loss that is a consequence of faulty drugs. For that matter, pharmaceutical companies are saved the hassle and cost of dealing with multi-billion dollar lawsuits over problems with their products.

Ethically speaking, a question arises as a consequence of such a policy: Is it right to let people suffer, or possibly die, because the government slows the release of a drug to prevent potential injuries? There is no easy answer to this question, but two factors should be considered when attempting to answer it. First, one must consider the ratio of people who will benefit from rushing out a treatment to the number who might be endangered by the incomplete (or less complete) testing this would entail. Second, not all the drugs released treat life-threatening diseases, so delaying such drugs is not a matter of life or death.

The last thing someone enduring any painful disease needs is to be hurt because they were mistaken in believing their medicine was safe. If such mistakes can be avoided by ensuring thorough examinations of new medical products, then perhaps patience is the way to go to help patients.

■H

The American flag is never very far from view for anybody who lives in the United States. From police stations to gas stations, the country’s colors are flown with pride.

Conversely, the flag is also a highly contentious symbol for many people who take ideological umbrage with the United States; thus, there are actions inverse to flying the colors that intend to correct what people perceive as philosophical missteps in the U.S., ranging from burning the flag to flying a flag in unconventional means.

Some people are unaware that flagburning itself is not an act that is intended to work against the prestige of the flag. When flags are retired, the three accepted methods to do so are burial, final tribute and burning.

All three of these ceremonies are intended to show the utmost respect for the flag, and thereby the utmost respect for the people, concepts and love that people hold for the United States.

Burning the flag itself became a popular symbol of protest during the Vietnam War; however, protesters burned it as a symbol of resistance toward the militaristic values the country was touting toward communism and the way it was expending lives and money to uphold them.

This same act of flag desecration is not bound by the resistance of war though, and often comes into play as a show of no faith in the way the country is being run domestically. One need look no further than the recent incident involving a protester standing on the flag at UCR, only to be hurt when somebody tried to pull it out from under her.

The event took place during a protest against police brutality, and the student who pulled the flag from under the protester later stated that, “As a combat veteran, I have presented that flag to widows, parents and friends as a symbol of their loved one’s ultimate sacrifice. It isn’t just fabric and I wanted it off the ground. That’s it.”

We often lose the consequences of our actions in the heat of the moment, instead rushing to act so that our distress might be lessened. The student who knocked over the protester has stated that he never intended to hurt the protester; however, in situations such as these where we see symbolic speech that so deeply offends us, cooler heads must prevail.

Flag desecration in any form is symbolic speech, no matter how closely we hold the symbol to ourselves. Some may take it upon themselves to put their lives on the line for this country, and nobody can take the honor away from that decision; but it falls upon everybody to make sure that our most essential freedom is upheld, no matter how those words or acts may bite us in return.

On the other end, we must also consider the consequences of our actions when we choose to use our rights. The flag is so much bigger than any single person, as it represents the hopes, dreams and sacrifices of generations of people, regardless of whether they would approve of the current state of the country.

Actions like those taken in UC Irvine point to a more productive attempt to alleviate anxieties about the United States: attempting to relinquish the flag instead of purging it with fire. UCI voted to remove all nations’ flags from campus as they represented symbols of oppression for some, just as they were symbols of pride and hope for others. The ban was overturned by student legislature, however, and never actually took effect.

Feelings about the decision to burn or take down the flag notwithstanding, the two have essentially different meanings.

UCI’s attempt to remove the flag showed that they held the support of the U.S. as problematic, as nobody can deny our country’s checkered past — and arguably checkered present — but fire is a much more definitive act of retribution that lets the viewer know that there can be no reclamation. Fire does not cleanse, but implies that the current system must be destroyed to be rewritten. At least with the decision to remove flags from UC Irvine, they could once again be reinstated when students felt that they could later support the country and ideals the flags represent.

The United States is not beyond redemption for however many flaws it has; thus, we should look to make our speech reflect that.

We can’t stop the use of flags as floormats, or keep them from being burned, and we never should. But we can encourage its use in a more constructive form of protest.

Presidential candidate Norman Thomas once stated, “If you want a symbolic gesture, don’t burn the flag; wash it.” The United States may never represent the ideals that it promotes in our lifetimes, but we can never give up on the possibility and we ■H can keep our flag beautiful.

We often lose the consequences of our actions in the heat of the moment ...

10

OPINIONS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

COLUMN

BY COLIN MARKOVICH, SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Pay attention to local government

Have you seen these elected officials?

deologically, people frequently fall into one of two categories.

There are those who believe that government is inherently harmful, and favor only creating regulations when absolutely necessary — say, to prevent that guy sitting in lecture next to you who didn’t eat breakfast from snatching your Cool Ranch Doritos, or at least ensure that said Doritossnatcher gets put behind bars for a solid six months. (Stealing Doritos is a serious crime!)

On the other hand, there are those who believe that government can be beneficial to society and can correct injustices when enacted appropriately. The metaphor to use in this context would be the professor who, realizing the average score on the last midterm was lower than the number of people voting for Rick Santorum, curves the grade upward so more students end up not having heart attacks.

These ideological distinctions are fine. They’re shaped by people’s vastly differing experiences and through debate between the two, we often emerge with a better final product and a more thorough understanding of each other’s points of view. What’s interesting is that these debates occur haphazardly in some places, but not in others. We usually know a fair amount about what’s going on nationally,

Five Little Kings” — the chair of the board can even call himself or herself mayor. Hilda Solis, a former member of the United States House of Representatives and Secretary of Labor in President Barack Obama’s cabinet, resigned from her post in the federal government just so she could have the opportunity to run for a seat on the board. It’s not every day that you turn down a cabinet position with control over 17,000 employees to go live in a city where the act of breathing can be considered an extreme sport.

In fact, many of the important decisions that affect our everyday lives aren’t even made in Washington. They’re decided much closer to home, in city council meetings where turnout of 25 people — not percent — is a success and in public committee workshops that nobody knows or cares enough about to attend.

In 2013, a few students got involved in council meetings when an ordinance proposed limiting the number of people who could share a building, which students tend to do since we have no money and rent is expensive. But where has the action been since then? There was one time when the city briefly debated extending the ordinance, but other than that it’s been pretty quiet. If this is something students care about, it’s worth it to follow up

I

even if it’s just a Facebook notification that there are riots in Baltimore or hearing from a friend that we’re working on a nuclear weapons deal with Iran. We may even be somewhat familiar with news about the state, as anybody who has heard about California’s drought can attest.

But let’s look even further down the myriad levels of government to the local level. Who can say what the city council discussed this week? Or even the county Board of Supervisors? Who even knew we had a board of supervisors?

(Sit down, political science majors.

And if you weren’t standing to begin with, be very ashamed.)

We can also hop west of here to the City of Angels, presumably so named because the angels who land in the city to communicate the will of the heavens have to rent an apartment and settle down because they can’t find their way back through the smog. Just 8 percent of the voting-eligible population turned out to vote in this year’s city council election. That’s a greater turnout rate than any UCR sports game.

To top it off, many of these noname positions are incredibly powerful. Take the LA County Board of Supervisors, for instance. The five supervisors have so much authority that they’ve been nicknamed “The

COURTESY OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE AND CITY OF RIVERSIDE

and change the current ordinance or at least propose a new one.

Or we can take the city of Bell, California, population 35,000, green landscapes, charming townhouses and a notable lack of actual bells. (Talk about false advertising).

In 2010, it was discovered that city officials were paying themselves a king’s ransom, with the city manager taking home over $1.5 million a year. To put that in perspective, the President of the United States makes a piddling $400,000 a year, and UC President Janet Napolitano earns the middle-class salary of $570,000 a year. They were caught, but those are your taxpayer dollars purchasing fraud.

Being unaware of local events isn’t necessarily anyone’s fault in particular — it’s just the way things are, the status quo, the way the cookie crumbles. There are so many sources for national news that they drown out the local ones that do some of the most noteworthy reporting.

That brings us back to the size of government. Because everybody pays attention to the federal government, its actions and size are constantly being scrutinized.

Meanwhile, the local and state governments who, regardless of whether you’re paying attention or not, enact intrusive and obstructive legislation, go relatively unnoticed.

What you as an individual can do is to pick up a local newspaper and at least read through the headlines. If you’re reading this article, it means you’re reading your local campus newspaper (thank you, by the way!) and that’s a good first step. There other sources for local news as well, including the PressEnterprise and some news outlets that are even more local. It only takes about 10 minutes of your time to skim the headlines, and if you see something that piques your interest, have a good long read — it could definitely be worthy of outrage.

And if you take interest in local issues, you will be one of the few who actively participate. That means you as an individual have far more influence on the outcome of a local decision, in comparison to a federal action where there are thousands of voices competing for oxygen. Face-to-face communication is a great way to convince people of your position, and travelling to D.C. on a regular basis is only possible for migratory animals, like politicians.

So take a few minutes to inform yourself about what’s going on in your local community. Even if it’s just building lots of Doritos vending machines, you’ll be able to affect real change right where you can see it.

■H

COMIC

JAMESON ADAME / HIGHLANDER

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.

ONLINE: “BROOKLYN NINE-NINE” REVIEW

R adar ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

EVENTS THIS WEEK 5/14

Department of Theatre, Film and Digital Production Film Festival 2015 @ ARTS 113, 8 p.m.

5/15

World Music Celebration @ ARTS 166, 7 p.m.

5/16

Beauty & The Beast - Inland Pacific Ballet @ Fox Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m.

5/16

UCR Chamber Music Ensemble @ ARTS 166, 8 p.m.

MATT HONG / HIGHLANDER

12

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts

“THE GRIND TO ME IS A SPACE THAT SAYS ‘COMMUNITY’” -MARIO SANDOVAL

BUILDING CULTURE

BACK TO THE GRIND BRINGS CREATIVE SPACE AND COMMUNITY TOGETHER Jake Rich, Senior Staff Writer On the strip of University Avenue that runs through downtown, cars whiz past. Filled with the district’s rushed workers, the majority of these drivers are scurrying off to one of many offices located in the area. Look closely enough, however, and amidst the hustle and bustle you’ll see two large glass windows and double doors covered by a dark red canopy. On top of the doors, not visible from the street, are white letters on the glass that read “Back to the Grind.” Established in 1996 by owner Darren Conkerite, the coffee shop serves as much more than that to the local Riverside community.

“Our mission statement from opening was (for) Back to the Grind (to be a place) for all to come together keeping all labels outside, so we knew we wanted a very open space, where you’re not judged, not for any kind of religious background, sexual preference, color of your skin, any kind of financial disposition, none of that matters,” he said. “You come in, there’s beverages, there’s conversation, there’s a band playing where you can be entertained, and we just wanted to eliminate any of that outside craziness.”

Walk through the double doors, and the shop greets you like an old friend. Everyone from students to senior citizens to everyone in between can be found lounging on one of many couches — not brand-new ones, but the kind that have been there for years and are incomparably comfy. Aside from the couches, tables and chairs lining the inside, the brick walls are adorned with works of local artists — look up near the cash register, and you’ll see a black and white baby urinating into a pitcher. Turn around, a giant bookshelf covering nearly the entire wall is adorned with hundreds of books and board games open for anyone to use.

As easygoing as a friend you’ve known for

Photos by Cameron Yong years, Conkerite laid out Back to the Grind’s history. He and a friend at the time, who came from very different working spaces, both knew they wanted to start a coffee shop. “We both came from different backgrounds; he was a corporate banker and I was at that time a cheesemaker,” Conkerite remembered. “We always said that if we weren’t at our present jobs we would want to do a coffee house because we like the networking with people and the music and the art and all that aspect of it.” They knew they wanted to open the shop before they were 30, so they pooled their money and found an empty shop (formerly Lane’s Country Store).

It was the perfect opportunity.

“The grind to me is a space that says ‘community.’ And that is important to a small town like Riverside.’” Mario Sandoval, host of Monday night open mics, said. Nearly every Monday night since 2000, Sandoval has hosted an open mic in the basement of the building, designed to allow anyone and everyone to come and be what they want to be. “It really doesn't matter what ‘label’ you choose to call yourself, but I'm sure that on any given day, you'll find someone who you can connect with here.”

“And I think that we have such a diverse crowd, you know we have everyone from young, high school kids to grandparents and every walk of life that comes sits and gets along,” Conkerite added.

A cement staircase leads down into a dank, dimly lit room. For a moment, I can’t identify the smell — it reminds me of a church. After a moment I realize it’s incense. And as the performance goes on, I realize the space isn’t entirely unlike a church — a place where people of different stripes gather, with the shared belief here being that everyone should have a voice, and that they deserve your full attention.

“This is a place where you, the artist comes and gets to show yourself to the world,” Sandoval continued. “We make it comfortable for first timers to come in and perform. It's like playing in front of a bunch of your friends.”

Everyone, from students to people from around the world have come to perform in this space.

“So as a host, I get the opportunity to introduce all these new acts and performers, and I get to listen firsthand … that's entertainment,” Sandoval continued.

Underneath the multicolored lights and low ceiling on a stage about a foot off the ground, comedians, songwriters and poets all bare their souls. A screaming, stomping, electrifying poet. A singer-songwriter wearing only a guitar over their chest, revolution on the mind with songs to inspire the audience. A comedian with a story to tell about his younger days, a room to invigorate and laughs to be had. Hundreds, if not thousands before them, have been able to express their thoughts in this safe space.

“I think Back to the Grind is one of the few places in Riverside that really feels allinclusive to people from all walks of life: age, gender, you name it,” fourth-year media and cultural studies major Sarinah Simons said.

“I've been to their open mic night before and it was really fun. The venue really caters to local musicians and that's great to see. We definitely need more of that. More people invested in the community and the arts.”

Simons isn’t the only student who feels this way about the venue’s many accomodations.

“As a student, I like how the place is a great piece of ambience away from the university.

It's peaceful yet very convivial,” second-year pre-business major Alexa Paredes added.

Late last year, however, the downtown entity came under threat. Conkerite explained

that in about August 2014, a plaintiff and attorney came to downtown and sued about 75 businesses who were not compliant with the American Disabilities Act. Even for an institution as popular as Back to the Grind, renovations still cost a pretty penny. Thankfully, they had a community to back them up.

“We thought as a group we would do a campaign and get the community involved,” Conkerite explained. “You know we’ve been here 19 years and we’ve hosted thousands of bands and thousands of artists, and we thought, you know, if everyone just came to the table and said, ‘you know, those guys gave me a free show and then they let me hang my work on the wall … we would come up with the adequate funds to do the renovation, and I think we met that.”

“When the court date came … they never showed up. Now we’re under no threat, as far as that goes. It was a blessing in disguise,” Conkerite smiled. The fact that he had to work long and hard to get to this position of community support isn’t lost on Conkerite, either.

“This is my kid, this is my baby, this is the offspring that I would never have, so it means the world to me,” Conkerite related, explaining that he does all the work he expects his employees to do. “So it’s just like what we’ve built here, I want to always remain here, and I want the culture that we’ve managed to sustain all these years, I want it to continue to grow.”

Success didn’t necessarily come overnight for Conkerite, but the shop has only continued to grow along with the surrounding downtown area. “It took this amount of time to get going, but I think it’s going now, it’s on the right path,” Conkerite said.

“I’m just going to keep lovin’ my baby and continue with business,” he added.

■H

UCRChannelH Darren Conkerite talks more about the history of Back to the Grind and his experience online at UCRChannelH.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts

IMPROVISATION

JEFFREY CHANG / HIGHLANDER

— T H E A RT O F WA L K I N G O N A I R —

NATHAN SWIFT Senior Staff Writer

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hat is improv? It’s not an easy thing to define. Some see it as a lackluster form of comedy, an excuse to entertain on a stage. Others may think improvisation is an easily attainable skill that requires no serious practice, like writing computer code or building a bridge. The most cynical (and perhaps unfunny) onlookers throw improv comedians into the same lot of entertainers most people hold with disdain, like magicians, ventriloquists and prop comedians. You may ask yourself, “Why should I care about improv? It’s just a bunch of people making things up, right?”

While improv does have a grey definition, the answer to that is this: The people behind improv take their craft seriously.

And as a result, they’re actually pretty damn funny.

Last Friday evening saw two entertaining groups perform in HUB 355. The first group to go on was UCR’s very own Present Company Included. Their members include Jonathan Kim, a firstyear student majoring in media and cultural studies; Grant Nakaoka, a second-year anthropology major; Nirali Kantawala, a fourthyear business major; Tamara Hossain, a second-year theatre major;

Scott Shima, a fourth-year theatre major; and Taylor Dennis, a firstyear PhD student in biochemistry.

Shima dove into Present Company Included and its humble beginnings. “It was originally a theatre organization for Asian-Pacific Islanders to perform plays by Asian-Americans,” he explained.

“But we learned that most of our demographic was Hispanic and half-Asian, so we initially taught them through improv games. And essentially, they liked doing the improv games more than regular theatre, and from there, that’s how we started doing improv.”

The group was happy to explain what exactly improv is when I presented the general public’s perception of improv as meaningless banter. “In a way, improv is the rawest form of theatre and performance,” Kim said. “There’s definitely a lot of thought and practice that goes into what we do,” Nakaoka added.

Their hard work definitely showed when the group took the stage. They began their performance with something simple: a random subject from the audience. A few seconds passed before somebody shouted, “Banana!” From then on, the entire 30-minute show revolved entirely around bananas, or things that are connoted with bananas.

Their first scene involved two members standing before the au-

dience, going on about their love of banana peels, and from there to peels of all kinds. “It’s gotten so bad that I go to pools for the skin that peels off people, and I’ll just gobble it up,” one of them said.

Immediately afterward, two other members rushed forward with the next montage, portraying gorillas who felt as though the media misrepresented monkeys. “Hashtag Tarzan 2015,” one of them quick-

elicit a laugh from the audience.

One of my favorite skits of the evening involved a doctor prescribing a banana-filled cream for medical purposes. One patient complained about their weight, and sought a miracle cure. “Just apply my Peel gel,” the doctor explained, “and your skin will literally fall off! You’ll be losing pounds in no time!” Another patient with skin problems ap-

I left the event that night with a greater understanding of what improv comedy is, what it can do and what it means for so many talented people. ly said before a tap on the shoulder brought the next pair to take center stage.

This is the formula for their show. It may seem basic, but underlying that thin layer of stage presence is an ever-working mesh of cogs rotating in every performer’s mind. While two or three took to the front to play out something, the rest are behind them, their heads level and eyes wandering, constantly inventing and reinventing different scenarios that may

proached her and asked, “As a person with low self-esteem, how much peeling should I do?” The doctor replied, “You should use the full subscription and do it all the time. You’re gonna feel great after all your skin falls off, because it’s what’s on the inside that matters.”

The joke peeled away to our funny bone (I’m sorry), and that single skit really highlights the brilliance of improvisational comedy. Most revered and mainstream comedy is simply a single person with a script they’ve written, rewritten and rehearsed all on their own. Improv can be just as funny, and even just as innovative as normal standup, but with random tradeoffs between performers, attentive listening to the audience and strong group chemistry. Traditional standup is like a freshly picked banana: It can’t be eaten right away. Improv, meanwhile, is akin to a tomato — it is most delicious when eaten fresh.

Following Present Company Included was Cold Tofu. Dubbed “the nation’s premier Asian American comedy improv and sketch group,” they consisted of Jully Lee, Corinne Chooey, Michael Villanueva, Will Choi (who’s a UCR alumni) and keyboardist Howard Ho. They have years of improv under their belts, especially Jully Lee, who’s only the second artistic director for the group.

Unlike Present Company Included, Cold Tofu utilized the concept of audience participation to a much greater extent. Their first skit involved a cast member as a fortune teller predicting another member’s dream job, celebrity spouse and unconventional death. The fortune teller left the

room before the audience gave their choices for the three slots (a dolphin trainer, Arnold Schwarzenegger and being steamrolled to death), so two other cast members off to the side did their best to physically enact each thing while the fortune teller did his best to predict the future by guessing what their motions signified.

Parts of the show even got super meta, like when two performers enacted a scene in a laundromat where a guy tries to impress a girl by telling her he’s a member of an improv club, and that she should come with him. “You mean, like, with no script?” the girl asked excitedly. “No script,” he replied. “We make everything up on the fly, as they say. And there are certain rules that one must follow, like always say yes and no denying what is given to you.” Realizing the ruse, the girl nonchalantly said, “Oh. Yeah, maybe.”

Some of my favorite skits heavily involved Ho playing the keyboard, which he did often.

But its brilliance came from when he’d play different musical styles and genres, forcing the members to suddenly sing their improvised lines that matched however Ho happened to play. One scene involved a couple shopping for a new car that shot in several different directions, from the wife singing a slow, ‘40s jazzy tune to express her interest in a Lamborghini to the car salesman belching along a cheesy ‘80s science fiction keyboard riff to pitch the car.

Cold Tofu was able to dive a little into their backgrounds after the show. They expressed intense interest in staying committed to the group’s original intention of striving for diverse multiethnic talent through comedy, while also maintaining accessibility for mainstream audiences. “Cold Tofu was founded in the ‘80s,” artistic director Jully Lee explained.

“So it’s obvious that they had a much harder time reaching out to audiences back then because most standups were just caucasian males.” The general population’s increasing diversity in the last 40 years has certainly strengthened Cold Tofu’s popularity. “It’s good that we’re still reaching out to our group’s original core audience, while also using our own diversity to present the idea that anybody can do improv comedy,” Lee said.

I left the event that night with a greater understanding of what improv comedy is, what it can do and what it means for so many talented people. And that’s the best type of comedy — one that generates both insight and laughter.

■H

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MOVIE REVIEWS MONKEY KINGDOM // RATING: ★★★☆☆ JAKE RICH Senior Staff Writer

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efore going to see Disneynature’s latest film, “Monkey Kingdom,” I must ask you a couple of questions. First: Do you like monkeys? Specifically, do you like toque macaque monkeys, the kind featured in this film? Do you like seeing monkeys play and act like monkeys? And the stringent hierarchy of the monkey kingdom? Yes? Wait, don’t answer yet. Second question: Do you like Tina Fey? Do you think Liz Lemon narrating the adventures of a troop of monkeys sounds like a good time? Never mind the fact there must be something wrong with your heart if you don’t think any of this is unbearably cute, but if for some reason this is not your thing, please do not go see “Monkey Kingdom.” If any of this does sound like your cup of tea, however, “Monkey Kingdom,” directed by Mark Linfield (“Earth”) and narrated by Tina Fey, combines beautiful shots of Sri Lankan jungle and Fey’s occasionally quirky narration to tell the story of one troop of monkeys, and in particular, a single common monkey within the troop, Maya.

Maya’s troop lives in an ancient abandoned ruin called Castle Rock in the Sri Lankan jungles near the town of Polonnaruwa. The opening scene of the film sets the tone for the

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

rest of the film, as the Monkees’ theme song plays as we see monkeys swinging and playing from trees and running around with each other.

Maya is introduced as one of the monkeys near the bottom of the social hierarchy, as she is last in getting food, among other things. We are also introduced to the three sisters, who are high in the hierarchy, and Raja, the head of the troop.

Eventually a new monkey, Kumar, comes and impregnates Maya before being ostracized from the troop. Maya has a son, a new troop of monkeys kicks Maya’s troop out of Castle Rock and they must figure out how to survive.

At its core, “Monkey Kingdom,” despite it officially being a documentary, has all the basic tenants you’d expect from a Disney film: a heartwarming, family-friendly story that’s a nice time for everyone to watch. Fey’s narration, fortunately or unfortunately, is restrained from being too snarky to keep the film suitable for all ages. While certain moments may leave you asking for more, hearing her make all sorts of funny noises as the monkeys gorge on cake and other human food at one point is well worth the watch.

The film’s story at times comes off as a bit contrived, as in the aforementioned scene when the monkeys just happen to find their way into a human house that just had a party and is full of sweets and food. You

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also have to wonder whether the monkeys are actually feeling all the things Fey mentions.

However, most of this is easy to forgive because, well — watching monkeys rum-

mage through junk food and acting generally like monkeys is fun to watch. The film makes up for its generic-but-charming story through the perceived authenticity of monkeys simply doing monkey things, as well as Linfield and cinematographers Martyn Colbeck and Gavin Thurston’s beautiful

shots of the monkeys, jungles and other animals.

Though it may not stand as the most breathtaking nature documentary you’ll ever see, “Monkey Kingdom” is a good time for anyone looking for one. Sometimes some good old-fashioned monkeying around is all you need.

■H

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

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STAFF PICKS:

What’s your favorite memory of the Barn?

With the Barn closing for renovation and expansion after Comedy Apocalypse XIV, here are the Highlander senior staff’s most fond memories of a historically important UCR landmark.

When I saw a stray cat right outside the back door.

Colin Markovich, Editor-in-Chief

Crowdsurfing and moshing to Badbadnotgood.

Jake Rich, Managing Editor

When I ate there this one time.

Jameson Adame, Opinions Editor

Watching one of my earliest taiko performances in front of it.

Sandy Van, News Editor

Probably that one time I had a burger there.

Amy Zahn, Asst. News Editor

I remember it being UCR’s best sitdown restaurant.

Cody Nguyen, Asst. Sports Editor

My turky ciabatta sandwich

Attending the spoken word event

Tiffany Liaw, Features Editor

Christal Mims, Asst. A&E Editor

Watching Emily Heller at Comedy Apocalypse Nathan Swift, A&E Editor

Open mic events.

Aaron Grech, Asst. News Editor

RATING: ★★★☆☆

FARAZ RIZVI Contributing Writer

“H

ot Pursuit” is a comedy directed

by Anne Fletcher, and has generally elicited very unfavorable ratings.

The narrative follows Texan police officer Rose Cooper (Reese Witherspoon), who is trying to follow in her father’s footsteps and is assigned to escort Daniella Riva (Sofia Vergara) and her cartel-affiliated husband. When two pairs of gunmen storm the house, things go very wrong and Riva and Cooper find themselves pursued by crooked cops and the cartel through the state of Texas.

While most films in the “chick flick” genre tend to be anathema for any man, “Hot Pursuit” is a delightfully satisfying movie.

While it is definitely no masterpiece, I found it strangely enjoyable (hopefully not due to any

midterm-related delirium).

To be frank, I found myself surprised at how genuinely enjoyable this movie was, with some clever jokes and downright hilarious sequences. For example, while Cooper and Riva are running from the police, there are news reports describing them. Each broadcast describes Witherspoon as shorter and shorter, and Vergara as older and older — at the end, Witherspoon is described as four-foottwo, and Vergara is 60 years old.

Another scene sees Riva and Cooper commandeer a senior citizen’s tour bus trying to get away from the cartel, with the senior citizens completely clueless as to whether this is a part of the tour.

Witherspoon’s acting is great given that she is given a role that can so easily be overplayed. The timid, shy and by-the-book cop can be easily overdone in a way that places too much emphasis on the character’s awkwardness, especially when paired with Riva’s rambunctious, outgoing diva character. While Vergara and Witherspoon have great on-

screen chemistry, this pairing is formulaic to a tee and annoyingly reinforces the trope of solitary equals bad and awkward while social equals good and fun. Moreover, this trope also follows the typical stereotype of the Latina woman as wild and disorderly (a role that Vergara regularly uses), and the white woman as orderly and timid. But the biggest flaw?

Reese Witherspoon’s godawful Texan accent. From an actress of Witherspoon’s caliber this is just disappointing. It seems as if no one in Hollywood really knows how to do a Texan accent.

While no masterpiece, I must admit that “Hot Pursuit” was bizarrely enjoyable. Witherspoon’s portrayal of Cooper as a stiff, rulebook kind of cop who has trouble with other people was well-acted.

For those of you stressed out by midterms, exhausted by the midquarter blitz of papers or even those of you frustrated by hurlyburly politics of the ASUCR elections, “Hot Pursuit” is an enjoyable two hours to get your mind off things.

■H

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Features

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UCR

celebrates the Semana de la Raza Photos by Vincent Ta, Janine Ybanez & Tim Baca

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onday: Oscar Romero Lecture Featuring Elpidia Carrillo

Tiffany Liaw, Senior Staff Writer

After discovering where Bourns A265 was, I stumbled into the sparsely decorated room with a table of light refreshments and a lone Salvadoran flag that hung behind the three guest speakers. Elpidia Carrillo, an actress most prominent for her role in social justice films, began her speech by convers-

ing in Spanish to the few Salvadorans in the crowd and reflecting on her experience of going to El Salvador. “Working as an artist gives me the opportunity to meet people with different backgrounds and ethnicities. To be an actress you must interpretar y ser (interpret and be) the roles,” she remarked.

As a

Latina actress, Carrillo often found herself conflicted between her true culture and what Hollywood expects her to be. “There’s this myth of a farmer girl finding her Prince Charming that just doesn’t exist in real Mexico,” she describes. She attempts to fight against the stereotype of Salvadoran and Latina women who are thought to be carefree and therefore desirable; this in-

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hursday: The Root Causes of Immigration

Robert Lees, Staff Writer

Thursday’s event featured a lesson from local teacher and UCR alumna Debbie LeAnce about the underlying causes of immigration to the United States from Mexico and Central America. Her lecture provided a more balanced view, avoiding the whitewashed reason often parroted in discourse about immigration — that people come “because it’s so much better here.” She covered a wide range of topics, spanning from the immigration crisis highlighted by the media in the summer of 2014, while also touching on how U.S. domestic and foreign policy has led to sectarian violence in Mexico and Central America.

LeAnce began her lecture a few minutes after 2 p.m., showing some YouTube clips about U.S. destabilization of Nicaragua to pass the time. The official lecture began with a brief recap of recent events involving current immigration issues from Mexico and Central America. LeAnce included local news clips that discussed the influx of unaccompanied minors emigrating from Central America, as well as local news clips of fierce immigration protests that had taken place in Fresno and the Inland Empire. An activist as well as an

his country was facing. When he finally opened up his eyes to the atrocities happening around him, such as the social injustice happening in El Salvador, he decided to take matters up himself by dedicating the rest of his life to helping others. The experiences of Carrillo and Romero highlighted the injustices of Salvadorans and encouraged the audience to take action.

ednesday: Semana de la Raza Nooner

As I walked throughout the Wednesday Semana de la Raza celebration, it felt like I was transported to Mexico.

The beginning of the festival had vendors that sold a variety of foods from Mexico.

Everything from seasoningdrenched tostilocos to the corn delicacy elote was offered.

There even was a Chik-fil-A stand which caught the eye of many starving college students as well.

While you socialized and

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sulted her since she wanted to work without having to sell her body. “I play Latinas and everything has to be in a box defined by people working in the industry and I have a really hard time dealing with that,” she reflected, determined to shed light on her personal struggle.

Another speaker told the story of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who also saw the struggles that

educator, LeAnce had several still images and anecdotes that covered her activism, which involves community organizing and protesting in the ongoing immigration debate.

The second and third parts of the lecture covered how the U.S. has contributed to governmental and social unrest south of our border. She mentioned how around 70 percent of the guns used by cartels against Mexican civilians and police come from the U.S. She also discussed how several coups carried out by the Ronald Reagan Administration replaced democratically elected officials in Guatemala, El Salvador and other Central American countries with brutal military dictatorships that created civil unrest that led to the current immigration issues we now face.

While both eye-opening and at times disheartening, LeAnce’s lecture didn’t end on a negative note, as several of the attending students gave their opinions on what can be done to help with the ongoing problems we face at home and abroad.

■H

Edward Dave, Contributing Writer roamed about, a mariachi band played musical classics. The band was adamant about the spectators genuinely enjoying their time at the event and even called up on a few girls to dance and show off their spirit. Booths were positioned around the event that belonged to a variety of school organizations on campus in an attempt to grab people’s attentions as they munched on their Mexican snacks.

Balloons and flags the color of the Mexican flag surrounded the

area; everywhere I looked I was captivated by the radiant glow of the spiraling colors. It’s amazing how colors add to the overall vibe and become vividly emblazoned in your mind, positioning you into another reality, if only for a few fleeting moments. You could tell that Chicano Student Programs put in a lot of hard work — there were no gimmicks or trite demonstrations, just pure unadulterated energy and candid displays of pride, which everyone roaming about appreciated.

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FEATURES

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/features

RUNNING UNDIE THE NIGHT SKY: THE UCR UNDIE RUN Ashley Chung, Contributing Writer // Photos by Aaron Lai // Graphics by Victoria Nguyen

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he upbeat tunes of a song

by Pitbull could be heard from as far as the bookstore as I approached the Bell Tower promptly at 9 p.m. this past Thursday evening.

In a near-freezing 50 degrees — at least for a SoCal native like myself — clusters of UCR’s students grouped together, desperate to share body warmth, as they trembled and shivered in half-naked bodies. Wait, what?

Naked? Yup, that’s exactly what you read.

The Bell Tower stood as a brightly lit ornament behind dozens of Highlanders as they stripped down to their boxers and bras in preparation for none other than the Undie Run. Hosted by ASUCR, the Undie Run — though a great excuse to flaunt Highlander spirit — is a charitable event that donates half of the clothing to a soup kitchen at the First Congressional Church in downtown Riverside. The other half is dedicated to powering the R’Closet, a branch of the R’Pantry, a resource that offers free food to students. Soon to be available to UCR students, the R’Closet is meant to provide clothing to those who cannot afford to purchase new clothes.

“R’Closet will also be a place for students to rent out interview outfits so that students do not feel obligated to purchase presentable clothing in order to get a job,” fourth-year English major Colette King added.

CHASS senators King and

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Jackie Jacoby, fourth-year theater major, coordinated this year’s Undie Run in hopes of providing clothing to their community, but also wished that it would be “a step toward shifting the mindset of (their) campus culture on body image.”

Before the run commenced, participants were asked to paint and highlight features of their bodies that they most appreciated with neon paint. Third-year sociology major Andy Tang revealed that this is a movement designed to teach students the importance of “accepting one’s self” and “ignoring harsh criticisms.” Runners are not forced to shed their clothing since it may be uncomfortable for many, but this activity is meant to empower people and aid them in embracing their physical traits.

With an estimated number of 300 participants, King and Jacoby’s goal to enhance self-confidence and “support the Riverside community” was definitely achieved.

After a brief introduction of the event and its guidelines, the crowd quickly became impatient and restless, as they were eager to begin the run and warm themselves up from the rather frosty weather. Led by undeclared first-year Caspar Gaviria, the large crowd finally took off on the paved path toward the Humanities Building. As soon as I felt warmed up with the group of undie runners, I began to understand that this was more than just a good cause — it was a great experience too. Partici-

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SENIOR STAFF WRITER

WRITTEN BY TIFFAN

PHOTOS BY LAURA NGUYEN

Y LIAW

pants ran by in a wide array of outfits, ranging from simple undergarments and sportswear to flamboyant tutus and brilliantly printed bras and boxers.

“Honestly, the cold doesn’t even bother me. I feel warm inside just from the kinetic atmosphere and excitement that radiates off everyone else,” first-year theater major Esther Posadas beamed at the start of the run.

The togetherness and enthusiastic ambience Posadas pointed out became emphatically apparent as we all ran toward Orbach Library with many laughing

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hysterically at the situation’s ridiculousness, while making sure to Snapchat and record the majority of the experience. No matter how absurd the event felt, students from a variety of different clubs and backgrounds were able to gain a sense of belonging.

Many students, like thirdyear mechanical engineering major Kevin Tang, chose to return to the Undie Run due to the “amazing vibe and high energy.” Like Tang, I undoubtedly felt the contagious presence of others’ high spirits as we made

★★☆☆☆

3600 Central Ave., Riverside, CA 92507 $$ Every day 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Ramen, Asian Fusion Yes http://www.zen-street.com/

his isn’t my first time at Zen Street, and as the only ramen shop anywhere close to UCR or the Riverside area in general, I had to return to give it a second chance after hearing praise about particular dishes that I didn’t order my first time, which had me vowing to never return.

Zen Street, located in a somewhat discreet plaza on Central Avenue across from the Riverside Plaza, boasts a dark and modern interior with string lights and hanging lightbulbs to add to the cool atmosphere. Posters and menu items hung from the walls and a sizable fish tank at the entrance divided the first half of the restaurant (which seemed more cheerful with more windows) from the second (which exuded a darker and more modern feeling).

The waiter greeted me and my companion cheerfully despite our prompt arrival 10 minutes after opening, and we were seated by the window toward the back of the restaurant where natural light flooded around us.

This time around, I ordered what my friend recommended to me: drunken ramen with pork belly, which consisted of a sweet basil in pork bone broth, a side of chicken dumplings, shrimp fried rice with a side of fried tempura

and a glass of green Thai tea.

Last time I was here, however, I distinctly remember ordering a spicy miso ramen and shamelessly hating it. The broth was flat-out disgusting and the spiciness of it took over any possibility of tasting something other than salty fire. To make matters worse, the ramen noodles were clumped together and clearly undercooked, leaving a mushy texture — needless to say, I left with an empty stomach and an increased longing for good ramen that could only be found near my hometown 30 minutes away.

As I attempted to erase my bias based on my previous horrible experience, I noticed our food had arrived rather quickly. The decent pile of shrimp fried rice was plated with three meatball-sized lumps of chicken dumplings and a small bowl of salad, while the ramen came in a big soup bowl and was accompanied by two small tempura on a separate plate with salad as well.

The salad was refreshing and crisp, although there was nothing special about it and it lacked the citrus dressing, which meant we lacked motivation to finish it.

I appreciated the generous servings of shrimp in the fried rice, since we received maybe five jumbo pieces, which is way more than most restaurants

the homestretch toward the litup Bell Tower. Even after the completion of our run, dozens of Highlanders chose to remain out in the seemingly forgotten 50 degrees and congratulate each other on an unforgettable accomplishment.

With tubs upon bins upon carts of clothing piled high and half-clad bodies covered in neon paint, the Undie Run definitely achieved what it had set out to do. It brought together the spirit of Highlanders to empower their confidence, while donating to a great cause.

■H tend to give out. The fried rice was a little on the salty side, although that didn’t really bother us. When the dumplings cooled down, we each took a bite with sweet and sour sauce and unanimously agreed that it was pretty good. Although the texture was slightly mushier than I remembered, the subtle taste of chicken and veggies wrapped in what looked like wonton skin was a winner.

I honestly have no idea why the green tea is called a Thai tea, but either way, when it arrived in a small mason glass jar, I was slightly awed by the layers of the matcha tea and cream — my amazement soon ended when I tasted it, though. The green tea tasted very light and artificial (I think my employment at a tea shop altered my taste for green tea) and it felt like I was drinking creamer with a splash of matcha.

To my disappointment, the tempura and the ramen were plain unappetizing. The shrimp inside the fried tempura was really soft — not how freshly breaded ones are — and I’m pretty sure it was just part of a microwavable bulk pack. The broth on the other hand was once again distasteful and the ramen noodles were once again undercooked and clumped together. The only praise I have for the ramen is that the pork belly was extremely tender and was probably the only thing saving the entire bowl of strange-tasting salty sadness from going on my blacklist.

Despite the fact that they pride themselves in serving ramen, my fried rice and dumplings were so much better. If you’re craving ramen in Riverside, sadly, you might be out of luck unless you would like to give Zen Street a try for yourself.

■H

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SPORTS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

23

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SAVANNAH VILAUBI FINISHES WITH FINAL-DAY SURGE AT THE WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS MYLES ANDREWS-DUVE Staff Writer

The 2015 NCAA St. George Regional kicked off Thursday, May 7, and while the UC Riverside women’s golf team was unable to earn a tournament bid as a whole, its star, Savannah Vilaubi, was able to participate as an individual competitor, the first female golfer in UCR history to do so. The tournament, now in its 23rd year, consisted of a total of 18 teams along with six individual golfers for a total field of 96. Of those six individuals, only the top three would be able to advance to the championship finals, making Vilaubi’s margin for error throughout the three days quite scant.

Vilaubi managed to put herself in competitive position after the first day of the tournament, placing 32nd overall at six strokes over par, firing off a total score of 77. This was good enough to place her fourth and just two strokes behind her fellow Big West Conference competitor, Long Beach State’s Kassidy Teare.

Entering a Friday where high winds and thunderstorms were in the forecast, the battle with Teare rained on as Vilaubi looked to build upon her solid start. However, despite finishing the day at seven over par — only one stroke worse than Thursday’s six-over — she dropped in the overall standings; tying for 42nd place with nine other golfers while honing a combined score of 13 over par.

Due to her 9:15 a.m. tee time, she was able to just miss the storms which began around noon, but the early winds could certainly have had an effect on her play. As Vilaubi fell in the standings though, Teare maintained her lead of two strokes by shooting an identical seven over on the day.

With no ground made as she and the Long Beach State star battled to advance, Vilaubi headed into the clear-skied, final day of the tournament with obvious intentions: move up the leaderboard. After bogeying on the first and seventh hole respectively, Vilaubi was finally able to hit a stroke under par on the eighth, which proved crucial at day’s end. And after that, other than another bogey on hole 17, she was able to remain even the rest of the way. This allowed her to finish at two over on the day — her best score of the tournament — and with a combined total of 15 over par, tying with six others for 34th place.

Meanwhile, her counterpart struggled down the stretch, ending with a Saturday score of five over par and an overall score of

16 over; one behind Vilaubi.

Due to her great composure down the stretch as well as some oft-necessary luck, Vilaubi was able to edge out Teare to earn third place outright among the individual competitors. She now

qualifies to advance to the championship finals held in Bradenton, Florida. The result is fitting for a player who led the Highlanders in scoring average this season, shooting 74.7 over nine tournaments. She also managed

five top-10 finishes on the year and set a new school record for individual score in a single round when she shot a career-low 67 in the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown Tournament on Oct. 26.

For all of Vilaubi’s accom-

plishments this season, being UCR’s first female golfer to participate and now advance in the Women’s Golf Championships has to be among the sweetest.

The championships begin on May 22.

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TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports

Sports Softball closes season with 3 straight victories over Mustangs COLIN MARKOVICH Senior Staff Writer MAY 8, 2015

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Highlanders 6 - Mustangs 2 Highlanders 8 - Mustangs 1

The Highlanders started their last series of the year with a doubleheader on Friday, with both teams trading runs in the early innings of the first game. Cal Poly added another run to the tally in the fifth inning to take the lead.

The Mustangs’ advantage was short-lived, as the Highlanders drove home four runs to put the Mustangs behind, 5-2. Chelsey Holley started the fifth inning off with a bang by smacking a home run. Jenna Curtan came home after a fielder’s choice, and the inning was topped off by a Natalie Sanchez double, driving home another two Highlanders.

The Highlanders added another run in the sixth inning, and Cal Poly was never able to recover.

The next game wasn’t much better for the Mustangs, with the Highlanders taking an immediate lead, driving in three runs off of three hits. Cal Poly briefly attempted an early-inning come-

back, notching a single run in the second inning, but it was unceremoniously crushed when Karina Romero brought home Rebecca Faulkner and Jenna Curtan, leaving the score at 5-1.

The rest of the game was no fun for the Mustangs, as the Highlanders drove home another two runs in the third inning and padded their lead with an additional run later on to win the day, 8-1.

MAY 9, 2015

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Highlanders 3 - Mustangs 2

The Highlanders’ final game of the season was characterized by more misses than hits as batters from both teams struggled to get on base. In the end, though, the Highlanders pulled out the victory, 3-2, finishing the season on a strong note and giving the team’s seniors the ultimate graduation present.

Senior Alyssa Razo took the circle first for the blue and gold, pitching the first inning. In the top of the first, Mustang Stephanie Heyward smacked the ball to right-center field, driving home runners on first and second to put the Mustangs up early.

Even though Razo was swapped out for Chelsea Ponce in the second

inning, the Highlanders had yet to find their groove, with the Mustangs reaching third base in the third inning before Madeline Richard caught a pop-fly to turn the inning over to the Highlanders.

Then the Highlanders struck.

Jenna Curtan took first base after the Mustang shortstop fumbled the ball, allowing Nicolette Lujan to advance to second after previously being hit with the ball. Next, Richard whacked the ball to third, loading the bases and putting the Highlanders in prime scoring position.

Natalie Sanchez made good, hitting a sacrifice fly that brought home Lujan. But another Mustang error gave Curtan the opportunity to tie up the score, 2-2. With Richard still on base, Karina Romero drove in one last run to put the Highlanders one up on the Mustangs.

The remaining innings turned into pitching duels as Ponce and Mustang Sierra Hyland challenged batters to get on base. The Mustangs briefly put a scare into the Highlanders at the end of the seventh inning, but it was not to be, with UCR taking home the victory and the series.

The season was a remarkably successful one for the softball squad, coming out with a winning conference record. “It was honestly

Kris DeAnda (No. 10) turns the double play.

fantastic. We accomplished everything we set out to do,” Taylor Wright, who is graduating this year, said.

Romero, who drove home the game-winning run, agreed, citing the team’s hard work and dedication. “We’re pretty much the first

JANELLE SOTO / HIGHLANDER

team to break all the records,” she added.

The Highlanders finished up on their record-breaking season, going 39-17 overall and 11-10 in conference. The record is the sport’s bestever since the team moved to Division I 15 years ago.

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UCR hosts track and field Big West Championships JASON AHN Staff Writer

For the first time in the program’s history, the UC Riverside track and field program hosted the Big West conference championships over the weekend. This weekend’s action consisted of the multievents, in which athletes competed in multiple events over the course of the meet.

The championships had a bittersweet start as highly favored Danielle Littleton was not able to compete due to a bum hamstring.

Junior Jazmine Harper of UC Riverside finished in eighth place in the heptathlon.

Harper scored 557 points in the long jump with a 4.99m jump, 277 points in the javelin throw with a 19.38m throw

and 715 points in the 800m run with a time of 2:28.21.

After the first day, Harper sat in fifth place. She had 2,823 points, 226 points behind the no. 1 leader.

Harper placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.48 for 912 points.

In the high jump, she hopped over 4’ 8.25” for another 544 points and made 32’ 1.00” in the shot put for sixth place and 515 points. In the 200, the last event, she finished with a time of 25.38 for 852 points.

Highlander Kristina Cornejo placed 17th after the first day with 1,694 points in her first Big West conference championship appearance.

Her two strongest events were the 200, which she ran in 29 seconds and was good for 554 points, and the 800 which she finished in 2:52.26, good for

440 points.

On the men’s side, Matthew Sam found himself in 14th place after completing five out of 10 events with 2,840 points. Eventually, he finished in the 12th place spot after the second day of competition with a total of 4,774 points.

He ran a 19.70 time in the 110m hurdles, generating 373 points, 23.89m in the discus throw, scoring 346 points and finished with 2.90m in the pole vault which was good for 333 points. He also scored 437 points in the javelin throw and had a time of 5:20.91 in the 1500, good for 445 points.

UCR track and field will host the second weekend of the championships, consisting of the single events, start■H ing on May 15.

Jazmine Harper takes long strides in the long jump.

VINCENT TA / HIGHLANDER

RAINBOW WARRIORS PUMMEL HIGHLANDERS IN CLOUDY WEEKEND SERIES JAKE RICH Senior Staff Writer MAY 7, 2015

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Rainbow Warriors 6 - Highlanders 3

UCR’s baseball team finally made it to an even 20 last Thursday evening — 20 games under .500, that is. In the midst of a trying first season under first-year head coach and former major leaguer and Angels closer Troy Percival, the Highlanders could not put a string of hits together and did not even score until after a 6-0 deficit had emerged in the sixth inning in a loss to visiting Hawaii in game one of their series.

Hawaii starter LJ Brewster did not allow a hit until the sixth and ended with a line of six hits, two walks, four strikeouts and three earned in 6.1 innings.

Hawaii scored once in the fourth before exploding for four in the fifth.

After a bases-loaded walk to Alan Baldwin scored Jonathan Weeks, Kaeo

Aliviado smacked a two-RBI double to right-center field to bring the score to 4-0. They would tack on two more before UCR scored to make it 6-1.

Shortstop Joe Chavez and third baseman Adonis Morisson each had two hits in the loss for the Highlanders, with Morrison adding a run and an RBI. Joie Dunyan (1-3) took the loss for UCR, giving up five earned with four walks in five innings.

MAY 8, 2015

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Rainbow Warriors 6 - Highlanders 2

Looking to halt their losing streak at two, the UCR baseball team could not catch up to Hawaii’s quick start out of the gate in a 6-2 loss to the island team.

Weak starting pitching continued to plague the Highlanders, as Kevin Sprague (3-6) gave up five runs over the course of 6.1 innings to see his ERA rise to 4.87.

Three of those runs came in the first inning. Hawaii second baseman Stephen Ventimilia set the tone with a leadoff double down the left-field

line. With the help of a Highlander error, as well as a subsequent triple from Alex Sawelson and single from Eric Ramirez, the Rainbow Warriors zipped out to a 3-0 lead by the time the Highlanders got to bat.

An anemic offense didn’t help matters much, however, as after gaining a run back in the first, the Highlanders could only scrape out one more run in the fifth inning. Hitting with runners on base continued to be a problem for UCR, as they left seven men on in the previous game, and nine in this game.

MAY 9, 2015

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Rainbow Warriors 9 - Highlanders 2

Even as their season has traveled down a progressively worse path, there are still a few bright spots for the UCR baseball team. For one, Saturday’s series closing set against the University of Hawaii had the most attendance of the three-game series, despite losses in the first two games. The UCR women’s track and field team could be heard loud and proud cheering from behind

the plate. UCR superfan Ken Doyle (who could be seen at nearly every basketball game this season) was seen getting fired up and yelling loud cries of encouragement. And who else but the big man himself showed up: Chancellor Kim Wilcox was spotted taking in the game from the left-field bleachers.

Too bad they didn’t have much else to cheer about.

After a promising start and a 1-0 lead coming from an AJ Sawyer RBI single, Hawaii responded with three in the third. After the Highlanders attempted to claw their way back and salvage one game in the series, the Rainbow Warriors busted the game open in the seventh and eighth innings, scoring a total of six runs, partially aided by testing shaky Highlander defense with a flurry of bunts. By the end of the eighth the contest was 9-2 and out of Highlander reach.

UCR has two remaining series in their season, at Cal Poly from May 15 to 17, and at home for senior day versus UC Santa Barbara from May 21 to 23.

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