The Highlander
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE
For the week of Tuesday, May 17, 2022
VOL. 70, ISSUE 27
est. 1954
see page
SPRING SPLASH SPORTS Hot Take
2022
ATHLETICS PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CAMARADERIE AMONG STUDENTS AND SHOULD RECEIVE THE SUPPORT OF CAMPUS AND THE STUDENT BODY. KEVIN CONTRERAS Sports Editor
UCR Athletics has had many struggles in the past two years both on and off the courts and fields. Off the court, UCR had to face the struggle of the COVID-19 pandemic and everything that it encompassed, from being remote, to the absence of fans, to almost being eliminated as a program. In August of 2020, the Budget Advisory committee for UCR made the recommendation of cutting the Highlander athletics department as a whole in order to offset the toll it was having on the university. After many months of social media campaigning, press conferences, interviews and engaging with students to sign their petition, finally in the first week of
May, it was announced that UCR Athletics would continue to compete at the Division I level inside of The Big West Conference. On the Court, the Highlanders continue to compete at the mid-major level, and after a very tough year, the various teams within Athletics reached historic levels of performance. Most recently, in an effort to receive more funding and support from the university and the general student body, Athletics proposed an increase in the student athletics fee. Leading up to the most recent ASUCR elections, there was much debate on whether this increase in the student fee would actually benefit the student body, but ultimately the pros outweigh the cons. ► SEE REFERENDUM PAGE 16
RYAN POON / THE HIGHLANDER
ISRAEL’S OPPRESSION OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE KNOWS NO LIMITS YET FACES NO CONSEQUENCES.
OP-ED
The proposed student athletics fee referendum should have passed.
12-13
Israeli soldiers murder iconic Palestinian journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, in cold blood ANONYMOUS
On May 10, 2022, Shireen Abu Akleh and her team of reporters were covering the Israeli Occupation Force’s raid of a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin, a city in the West Bank, Palestine. Though the entire team wore their press gear: a blue bulletproof vest and a blue helmet which both read the word “PRESS” on them in clear and large white letters to make themselves identifiable to Israeli forces, Abu Akleh and her team were distinctly targeted for the sole reason of being Palestinian journalists and media figures. Her colleague, Ali Al-Samoudi, was shot in the back and is now in stable condition, and Shireen Abu Akleh was shot right beneath her helmet, showing the deliberate intention to kill. It’s important to call attention to Israel’s attempts at silencing Palestinian voices and to highlight the hypocrisy of the United States, which prides itself on being the voice of freedom. Abu Akleh gained fame amongst the Palestinian people during her coverage of the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israel, in 2000. Her work with Al Jazeera, the Middle-East’s biggest news source, and her daring and brave coverages of the Palestinian struggle against the apartheid state of Israel
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were Vcelebrated by supporters all across the globe. For Palestinians, Shireen Abu Akleh’s name became the face of news as a whole as three generations regularly sat together around their televisions to watch her reporting. Though they were so familiar with seeing her face on the screen, her presence within the community was just as prevalent. Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israel are not at all scarce, but her legacy and her attempts to show the world the truth of Israel’s atrocities are what make this particular one even more heart-wrenching. She was a voice for the people that Israel desperately sought to silence.
► SEE OP-ED PAGE 7
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