Volume 69 Issue 01

THE HIGHLANDER

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE

VOL. 69, ISSUE 01

FOR THE WEEK OF MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 05, 2020

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HUMANS OF UCR

UPCOMING EVENTS: WEEK 1

MADISON RHEINS | POLITCAL SCIENCE ADMIN | SECOND-YEAR COMPILED BY RYAN POON

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The Office: Trivia Night 7:00 p.m.

Virtual Event

An election like no other: Getting Californians ready for November 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Virtual Event

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Resume Writing (Personal Branding Series) 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Virtual Event

LGBTQ+ Student/Staff/ Faculty Meet & Greet 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Virtual Event

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Live Kind Panel 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Virtual Event

Make-Up with Mayhem Miller: A LIve Make-Up Tutorial 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Virtual Event

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The Porter Film Watch Party 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Virtual Event

Themed Virtual Stargazing - Life in the Universe 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Virtual Event

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Speed Friendship 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Virtual Event

Accessible Documents Made Simple 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Virtual Event

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

“I love astrology. In my free time I really enjoy watching astrology and tarot card videos. I feel like reading tarot or watching other tarot readers and intertwining that with astrology really connects me to nature and the people

Thursday

around me in a spiritual way.“

Friday

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LaunchPad Social Innovation Path Virtual Event

Virtual CC Open House 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Virtual Event

Saturday

CONTACT US

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NEWS EDITOR

Laura Anaya-Morga

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News 4 MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020

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UCR to transition from iLearn to Canvas

DAVINA GARCIA Senior Staff Writer

UCR is transitioning its learning management system from iLearn (powered by Blackboard) to Canvas, a cloud-based, learning management software. In preparation for the 20202021 academic year, UCR’s Exploration Center for Innovative Teaching and Engagement (XCITE) has teamed up with Information Technology Solutions (ITS) as well as other campus organizations in order to create a multitude of new services and to facilitate a better learning environment for students and faculty alike.

XCITE began operating the new site during summer; they are projected to expand and add more courses well into this fall quarter and increasingly into the next year. Their ultimate aim is to let go of iLearn completely by the midsummer of 2022.

In an interview with The Highlander, the director of XCITE, Richard Edwards, explained the reasoning behind this transition. “Over the last few years, 80% of the UC campus around the state already have converted to Canvas, and in May 2020, the Governor’s Office of California expressed a desire for all UC campuses to be on a common LMS platform, which encouraged UCR to

COURTESY OF CANVAS

make the switch at this time,” stated Edwards. According to him, UCR has also reportedly purchased Cidilabs, which is a tool that aids faculty members in fashioning their own courses to best utilize Canvas’s course design features, accessibility options as well as file management structure.

According to Edwards, XCITE and ITS have a hefty task in transferring classes from one learning management system to another, as it requires much time and effort. However, the main challenges involved have more to do with the training needs of students and faculty. “XCITE and ITS will be

spending time making sure that students and faculty are properly messaged about the progress of the Canvas conversion,” he stated. Edwards noted that they are fully prepared to hold continuous training sessions over the course of the next two years for all who H might need it. ■

NEWS IN BRIEF:

UCR enforces mandatory COVID-19 training module

DAVINA GARCIA Senior Staff Writer

UCR administration has decided to allow only a small portion of university students to live and learn while on campus, largely keeping the campus closed and continuing with remote learning in response to COVID-19.

In preparation, UCR has created a corresponding training module for all incoming students, regardless of living situation or proximity to the school campus.

The mandatory tutorial is around twenty minutes long, and is due by Sunday, Oct. 8. Taken through iLearn, it is designed to inform students about the best practices for remaining safe and preventing the contraction and spread of coronavirus. The module is broken up into seven sections, including an introduction, conclusion and a final quiz that must be completed at the end. It covers the basics of COVID-19 information and the many specific changes that UCR has had to implement in order to ensure student and faculty

safety in-person. One example being, now that there are freshmen occupying the dormitories, they are required to complete a Daily Wellness Survey everyday for the remainder of fall quarter.

In an interview with The Highlander, Bella Leibovitz, a first-year education major, did not express too much worry over the new information and protocol given in the module. Instead, Leibovitz stated that she is more troubled over being able to “keep up and meet people without having face-to-face time.” She is confident that in spite of the pandemic and

all of the extra precautions that are being put into place, most of her concerns will be eased as the school year progresses.

Fourth-year linguistics major, Debbie Lee, shared a similar concern in regards to being estranged from friends and other people. However, Lee also added that though the school was doing the best it could to inform students about preventative measures, the effort could not help but fall flat. “With a pandemic like this, a module can only do so much to address the numerous concerns people H have,” stated Lee. ■

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NEWS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020

Faculty and students participate in statewide day of action to remove police from UC campuses

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LAURA ANAYA-MORGA Senior Staff Writer

On Thursday, Oct. 1, UCR students and faculty participated in the UC Cops Of Campus Coalition’s statewide day of action to remove police from all UC campuses by Sept. 1, 2021.

In partnership with non-profit organization Critical Resistance and the help of Scholars for Social Justice, the American Studies Association (ASA), the Riverside Faculty Association (RFA) and the UCR chapter of the UC Cops Off Campus Coalition hosted part one of their teach-in series on antiBlackness, the university and policing followed by a demonstration in front of the UCPD station on Canyon Crest Drive. Despite being the first day of classes, many departments on campus expressed their solidarity with the day of action of the efforts of UC Cops Off Campus Coalition. The Department of Ethnic Studies and Department of Anthropology both expressed in an email, “We must acknowledge that policing disproportionately violates Black, Brown, Indigenous, queer, trans, poor peoples, and immigrants, rendering many members of our campus and its communities less safe ... (we) will not retaliate against undergraduate or graduate students who join the abolition events happening statewide on 10/1.”

The event was moderated by media and cultural studies Professor Dylan Rodriguez and featured a series of panelists and scholars from across the country. The featured panelists included João Costa Vargas, author and professor of anthropology at UCR, Savannah Shange, an assistant professor of anthropology and critical race and ethnic studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Lester

Students demand that cops be removed from campus in front of UCR’s Police Department

University as well as how he has seen how organizing groups such as Occupy Baltimore and the Baltimore Algebra Project have influenced a muti-racial coalition of voters at the university. Spence also discussed the importance of allyship in building successful movements against policing on campuses, stating, “as we center Blackness in our analysis ... a number of the folks who are organizing at Hopkins against police did so knowing that they would not be directly harmed by policing at all.”

Shange then began discussing the relationship between K-12 schools and the police, mentioning the school to prison pipeline and the larger practices of policing in schools that do not necessarily have anything to do with law enforcement. Shange noted that while 50 to 70% of public

Students protest and demand cops off campus from their vehicle

Spence, professor of political science and Africana studies at Johns Hopkins University and Cathy Cohen, professor of political science at the University of Chicago and author of “The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics.”

Spence began the discussion by focusing on the exclusionary practices he has observed at Johns Hopkins

funding goes to law enforcement, the other half, which is divided into education, healthcare and housing, is still heavily policed by having harsh disciplinary actions in schools, racial disparities in healthcare and housing discrimination. “We need to understand that these places are not our refugees, they are exactly that battleground,” stated Shange. According to Shange,

the abolition of any type of law enforcement on campuses is only the first step in abolishing the policing practices that makes up the foundation of the United States.

“The work of anti-Blackness and white supremacy within the university extends far beyond slavery,” stated Cohen. She added that it includes the university being a site of knowledge production meant to exploit, experiment on and perfect strategies of surveillance and policing that specifically target Black Indigenous people. It also includes the university often being the largest employer in and near BIPOC communities where they can use their power to extract resources from neighbourhoods as well as universities destabilizing communities by taking over land. This, according to Cohen, is fundamentally the logic of the neo-

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liberal plantation, an established racial hierarchy with extractive practices.

Another point made by Cohen was that explicit policing on campus is deployed not only to control who is allowed on campus but to increasingly manage what is allowed off campus.

This creates an absence of economic, social and political investment in the empowerment of communities

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surrounding universities and instead creates an investment in policing as a way to shield those who “belong” to the university from those who are rightfully angry, enraged over having been neglected from resources and opportunities, stated Cohen. Another form of policing in academia is representational diversity or tokenism across universities which Cohen refers to as “superficial diversity.”

Vargas then went on to explain his definition of abolition and the consequences of obscuring and minimizing anti-Blackness in our understanding and analysis of the university and its policing function. In the world of anti-Blackness, there is a fundamental division between Black people and non-Black people, and alliances are formed that recognize the fundamental place of Black people in the constitution. According to Vargas, in a world where anti-Blackness is minimized, multi-racial alliances are a possibility but not a necessity.

However, he stated that in a world of anti-Blackness, “nothing short of a completely different world will do.”

The panel answered a few questions from students before concluding the teach-in and moving to the sociallydistanced demonstration and car caravan that took place in front of the UCPD station located on Canyon Crest Drive and Linden Avenue.

Braving the 106 degree weather, about 30 students from UCR and around the Riverside community gathered with signs that read “Cops Off Campus” and “Abolish UCPD” and marched toward the UCPD station. No officers were present throughout the duration of the demonstration. Cars honked in support of the marchers as they chanted “UCPD has got to go” and “We want freedom, not police.”

Humberto Flores, a second-year Ph.D. student in sociology told The Highlander that a cop-free university would mean finding other forms of community led restorative justice, where the UCR community would work to keep each other safe.

The full teach-in can be viewed ondemand through the Critical Resistance Facebook page. The followup teachin will be held on Thursday, Nov. 5 via Zoom and will focus on abolition, H Black study, and Black studies at UCR.■

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NEWS

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New COVID-19 testing lab opens at UCR DAVINA GARCIA Senior Staff Writer

In anticipation of fall quarter, UCR has established a brand new diagnostic laboratory dedicated to the ongoing COVID-19 testing program on campus, located in the Multidisciplinary Research Building. Student Health Services and UCR Health have since been utilizing the facility in order to keep up with COVID-19 diagnoses and maintain campus health.

The lab opened up towards the beginning of September after having tested its first sample in August and is now fully functional thanks to the collaborative work of several individuals and departments across the board.

Rodolfo Torres, the vice chancellor for research and economic development, whose office was directly involved with the formation of the lab, spoke to The Highlander about the testing facility.

He elaborated on the reason why UCR was quick to develop their own screening station. “It has been established that frequent testing is an important component in mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and to detect potential risks of outbreaks before they occur,” he stated.

Torres affirmed that during periods of

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higher volume, third-party test providers are not always able to release results at a satisfactory rate. UCR has been continuously working towards more efficient testing methods to achieve proper results; they recently made a switch from nasal swabs to saliva testing, as the latter proved to be much quicker.

Additionally, having a laboratory on campus is better for accessibility, given that the students currently living

in the residence halls are required to get tested regularly. Students and employees coming to campus are also expected to partake in a wellness check form every single day. Negative test results are given through email, but should any test results prove positive, they will be delivered through phone and the appropriate actions will be taken. Information concerning identified positive cases can be found on UCR’s website.

The testing sites on campus operate Monday through Friday, generally from 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m., however students on campus will be given their own instructions regarding when they need to report for screening. Though they are currently only open to students and staff, Torres asserts that as their capacity for testing expands, they may eventually allow other individuals to be tested on H campus. ■

Students form the UCR Civic Engagement Coalition to combine the efforts of campus departments to promote civic engagement

COURTESY OF AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION 3.0 AUSTRALIA LICESNSE NO CHANGES WERE MADE

LAURA ANAYA-MORGA Senior Staff Writer

The UCR Civic Engagement Coalition is an alliance of students, organizations, faculty and departments working together to elevate student voices. They recently formed and are a non-partisan group focused on providing every student with the opportunities and resources they need to contribute to their communities.

In an interview with The Highlander, members of the coalition discussed their goals as a group, the importance of collaborating with various campus departments and the impact that students can have on their own communities in Riverside and beyond.

Emily Thomas, a third-year public

policy major and civic engagement director for ASUCR, stated that the goal of the coalition is to align campus departments’ civic engagement to increase their outreach and hopefully teach students about the census, the upcoming election and give them the tools to understand their local city governments. Ria Mavinkurve, secondyear economics major, and another member of the UCR Civic Engagement Coalition added, “We strive to create a long lasting culture of civic engagement not just until November, but beyond ... for the rest of UCR’s future, we want to promote a culture of getting involved and using our voices.”

The UCR Civic Engagement Coalition came together as a direct result of the

UC Student Association’s (UCSA) UC We Vote campaign. “The goal for UC We Vote this year was to create vote coalitions to engage students on social media to ensure that students on our campuses knew the information that they needed to be able to vote effectively and efficiently,” stated Thomas.

So far, the coalition has combined efforts with CALPIRG, ASUCR, ASPB, Student Life and the Civic Engagement Workgroup led by faculty and staff to collaborate ideas and promote the work of the coalition through their various social media platforms. The coalition is also working on eventually collaborating with other UC campuses.

Another goal of the coalition is to ensure that they are inclusive in their

efforts to promote social engagement.

“We understand that voting is a privilege and we understand that it’s not accessible to everyone but we want to make sure that folks know that there are other ways to get involved,” stated Mavinkurve.

Some of these examples include being counted in the 2020 Census, demanding action from your local representatives and organizing in your communities.

Lilly Romero, second-year psychology and education major, discussed how being involved in the civic engagement efforts at UCR gave her the learning tools she needed to demand action from her representatives back home in the Bay Area. “I don’t live in Riverside, but through the committee I’m only just now realizing that my local government is pretty important too,” stated Romero. In her community, Romero became aware of a mayoral candidate who proposed the decrease of special education funding; being that she has a sister with special needs, Romero felt that it was her responsibility to advocate for her.

Romero added, “Students aren’t aware of how powerful their voices are.”

Students can get involved with the UCR Civic Engagement Coalition by following their Instagram page and signing up for their email list to gain access to more information as well as weekly meeting invitations. The coalition will also be hosting a civic hour every Wednesday at 11a.m. via Instagram Live. Additionally, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, they along with ASUCR and the School of Public Policy, will host a Riverside mayoral candidate town hall between Patricia Lock Dawson and Andy Melendrez.

“Civic engagement and voting is more than just the present, it’s more than just the federal level,” stated Thomas, adding that the local governments that truly matter for the betterment of your H community are what is often overlooked.■

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NEWS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020

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UCR considers eliminating athletics department and School of Public policy in response to coronavirus budget cuts

AMANI MAHMOUD Senior Staff Writer

Grappling with steep budget cuts, UCR’s Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) has suggested the elimination of the athletics department and the School of Public Policy (SPP) in a summary of recommendations to UCR Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox. UCR is facing approximately a $70 to $108 million permanent budget shortfall over the next two to three years.

The recommendations from the BAC sparked opposition among UCR athletes, the UCR community, SPP students and faculty and the Riverside community. In their summary, the BAC wrote that their recommendations evolved from 10 total campus outreach meetings, survey input on the budget, email input on the budget and a number of focused BAC discussions.

The BAC recommended that they identify specific strategic areas of focus for targeted permanent reductions. They further recommended that these areas should be carefully further evaluated to determine the feasibility of significant reductions or elimination, given the severity of the budget challenges.

Among the four strategic areas noted for permanent reductions or elimination were theUCR athletics department and the SPP. In their letter, the BAC wrote, “Although these are important programs, they are not viewed as critical as other campus activities, especially given the very lean level of funding for UCR (even before the budget reductions).”

The BAC wrote their support for a focus on elimination of athletics with saving some funds for a more robust intramural program for the campus. Along with the elimination of the athletics department and the SPP, the BAC recommended officials ask each college and administrative department draft a plan to cut their budget from 10% to 15%.

Of the 10 members serving on the BAC, none are representatives for the SPP or the athletics department. In an email interview with The Highlander, Vice Chancellor for Planning, Budget and Administration and Co-Chair of the BAC Gerry Bomotti stated that at this time, all core funded units are being asked to bring forward proposals for budget reductions. Bomotti stated that they will review those proposals and the BAC will give feedback to the chancellor and provost and they will then make final budget cut decisions. He noted that they will not be the same for all units of campus. He added that auxiliary and self supporting programs, like housing, dining and parking, are not core funded and are developing their own budget plans based on projected revenue. Bomotti wrote that these programs are fully self supporting and do not receive state funds or student tuition for subsidy, which in most cases would result in much larger cuts than 10% to 15%.

In response to the suggestion that the athletics department and the SPP be eliminated, Bomotti wrote that the BAC shared the opinion on these programs for consideration but it “does not imply these programs are not valuable to the campus – it mostly highlights the serious nature of the current budget situation that UCR is dealing with, and the assumption that difficult priority decisions will have to be made in order to help preserve the most important programs and services offered by UCR.” He added that the BAC understands and respects that different individuals may reach different conclusions. He claimed that the BAC articulated their views

and shared them with the provost and chancellor, and the chancellor shared them across campus. “This is an open and direct process, and in the end the chancellor and provost will make final budget reduction decisions,” wrote Bomotti.

Bomotti went on to state that he does not believe it would be feasible to have representatives from each program on campus on the BAC as it would be too large. Bomotti stated that “any students in any programs targeted for impact would be supported through some transition period that did not negatively impact them.” He noted that UCR has put staff on temporary layoffs, and it is possible there will be more layoffs in the near future. Itis not possible to guarantee that no current employee of UCR would be impacted by the budget reductions, stated Bomotti but, he ensured that if there were impacts, they would follow UCR’s campus policies in addressing them.

In an email interview with The Highlander, Chief of Staff and Senior Associate Athletics Director, External Relations for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics Wesley Mallette stated that while the athletics department is not happy with the recommendation, it is important to note that the BAC’s recommendation to the chancellor gives support for a focus on elimination of athletics. “This recommendation is deeply concerning and while it is by no means certain that the Chancellor will follow it, our Athletics Department is taking it seriously,” wrote Mallette.

“We clearly want Athletics to be here as we believe we bring tremendous value to our university. Along with those affiliated with and concerned about UCR Athletics, we are committed to ensuring our future is sustainable for years to come,” added Mallette.

Mallette stated that they are incredibly proud of the athletics department at UCR and the upward trajectory they are on. He wrote, “Our Athletics program is critical to the mission of our university. It has made a tremendous impact on the campus and in the lives of the several hundred studentathletes we serve and the thousands who have graduated from this great institution and have gone on to change the world in their respective fields.”

Academically, athletically, on UCR’s campus and in the UCR community, Mallette believes the impact and contributions that UCR’s student-athletes are making as leaders, students and citizens is second to none. Without competitive Division I (D-I) athletics at UCR, Mallette believes UCR’s campus culture would drastically change. “Everyone at UCR has worked incredibly hard to elevate our brand and we are seeing that reflected how we are ascending not just in recent rankings across multiple national media outlets, but the positive reputation of the UCR brand nationally and globally. Our Athletics program is part of that and the contributions our student-athletes have and will continue to make are significant,” added Mallette.

In response to the BAC’s recommendation to eliminate the SPP and the athletics department, a group of student leaders rallied to show their support and advocate to save these programs from elimination. One of the ways students advocated to save these programs was by creating petitions. At time of writing, the petition “Keep UCR Athletics” has approximately 13,264 signatures and the petition “BAC Call for Action: Keep

the UCR School of Public Policy” has approximately 489.

Another way student athletes advocated to save the athletics department was by creating the Student Athlete Preservation Committee. A town hall with over 50 participants was held on Sept. 17 at 10 a.m via Zoom.

Raena Robinson, a UCR softball player stated that the mission of the committee is to save the athletics department from being eliminated. Ari Gerber, a member of the UCR baseball team stated that the athletics department and student-athletes “are not going down without a fight. It’s great to see how much support we have received.

Everyone involved in athletics comes from a different background but we all have the same mission to preserve what we love.”

Dominick Pickett, a UCR men’s basketball player went on to state, “Playing basketball, baseball, soccer and so forth is more than just a sport. The skills we are able to take from these things is what it means to be a student-athlete.” Member of men’s track and field Tanner Anderson expressed his concern in keeping the integrity of UCR’s D-I athletics program if they were to face severe budget cuts rather than permanent elimination. While he was concerned, he stated that he has faith in UCR and the athletics department’s ability to save the department.

During the town hall, Mallette noted that UCR prides itself on being a diverse campus but, if the athletics department were to be eliminated, UCR would be the only UC campus without an athletics program. Mallette stated that eliminating the athletics department would “take away opportunities for students who may not otherwise have them. It would be a shame for that to happen.” 74% of UCR’s studentathletes identify as nonwhite, noted Tamica Smith Jones, the director of Intercollegiate Athletics at UCR. Towards the end of the town hall, Smith encouraged students to continue to speak up and advocate for the athletics department at UCR and to dismiss claims that athletics is not a valued component of UCR. In an interview with The Highlander, Richard Carpiano, a professor of sociology and public policy as well as a representative for the SPP on UCR’s Academic Senate, spoke about his thoughts on the BAC’s recommendation to eliminate the SPP. Carpiano emphasized that he believes the BAC’s recommendation “seems rather unfair, out of the blue and does not seem to be motivated by any accurate data analysis.” Carpiano elaborated stating that the SPP recently had an evaluation completed which was well received and their performance metrics looked very good. Carpiano feels as if the BAC’s recommendation makes it appear that the SPP, “is a financial burden to the campus which is not the case.”

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Carpiano noted that the SPP is relatively new. In 2018, UCR transferred the undergraduate program in public policy from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to the SPP. Carpiano noted that “it doesn’t make sense to eliminate a college that is only a couple of years old, thriving and plays a tremendous role to the campus.”

Given the current conversations happening around the nation, Carpiano stated the SPP heavily addresses and tries to combat issues such as equality and structural racism. “We are a very important component to UCR’s ability to further the mission of UCR to address broader issues such as inequality and structural racism,“stated Carpiano. He went on to state that to suddenly be named as the only academic unit mentioned in this report and under scrutiny is really unfortunate and divorced from the realities of the data.

He stated, “What this recommendation did is create a lot of concern for our students and faculty … I would go so far as to say this recommendation and the way it was communicated to the campus community and faculty was careless.” There is an implicit bias to state that the SPP is not as critical as other campus activities, stated Carpiano.

Carpiano expressed that he was inspired by student support for the SPP after the BAC’s recommendations, which spread across social media platforms such as Instagram. “This really shows that students are the heart of the SPP community. We are committed to training students to be future leaders and policy analysts … This is their campus too and their voices should be heard on this matter. They should feel empowered to use their voice,” stated Carpiano.

Nava Majlesi, the ASUCR SPP senator, wrote in an email to The Highlander that she is disappointed with the language the BAC used in their statement. “Officially deeming SPP as a noncritical program has shed a negative light on the program, and even once this is all resolved, that choice of words will still stand and be associated with SPP,” stated Majlesi. She added that while SPP is the newest and consequently, the smallest school at UCR, she believes that the BAC was wrong to undermine the strength of the program. “I feel that their recommendation was premature and should definitely be reconsidered in light of the benefit SPP has brought to UCR and beyond — and the positive impact it will further have once it continues to grow,” added Majlesi.

Students have continued to share #KeepUCRAthletics via social media and show their support for the SPP. Final decisions regarding all of the BAC’s recommendations will likely be made in October by Chancellor Wilcox and the H Office of the Provost. ■

OPINIONS

8 MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020

OPINIONS

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THE HIGHLANDER EDITORIAL

Cutting from the bottom-up: The elimination of UCR athletics and the School of Public Policy is a permanent solution to a temporary problem

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s UCR approaches the new academic year, one of the main concerns facing Highlanders is the Budget Advisory Committee’s (BAC) proposal to eliminate UCR Athletics along with the School of Public Policy (SPP). This sudden proposition to fix the school’s so-called financial strain came as a shock to students and faculty alike. The hastiness of this situation shows the flaws in the decision making process of administrators and their inability to recognize that cutting whole programs will ultimately be an unwise strategy.

To cope with the onslaught of costs the coronavirus pandemic has caused with campus closure, the BAC has come up with a set of strategies in order to pull UCR out of financial disarray.

Each strategy was fleshed out and proposed to administration.

Out of all the recommendations, the proposal to eliminate UCR Athletics and the SPP stood out the most. The reasons for elimination came as an even bigger surprise, as they seemed to not make a lot of sense given the situation. The BAC instead proposed to build a more robust intramural program to replace athletics and the elimination of SPP is backed by the fact that they could save on the administrative costs of a free standing school.

The proposal of eliminating athletics was immediately met with intense backlash from

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students, staff and the UCR and Riverside community. Many students, current or prospective, view sports as an integral part of the classic college experience.

If UCR eliminates athletics, it will be the only University of California without a full sports department. Compared to other campuses such as UCLA, UCR will not stand a chance in competing for a large portion of new freshman applicants. One immense lure for prospective students is school spirit. Without a sports program, UCR without a doubt will suffer a gigantic blow in school morale. Without the strong sense of camaraderie that sports bring to a campus, students will have no desire to feel a sense of pride for their campus. As a result, prospective students will see this and look elsewhere for a college experience that involves sports.

UCR Athletics has helped innumerable low income students make a future for themselves with sportsrelated scholarships. These are resources for students that help those who can not afford a UC education. In a town hall for UCR Athletics, Tamica Smith Jones stated that 74% of student-athletes identify as non-white. Given that UCR has been considered one of the most diverse campuses, taking away sports from students and prospective first year athletes is undermining the successes of these young students of color and leaving them to fend for themselves. This would go against everything UCR has

spoken out against regarding the current political climate and systemic racism. UCR should not get away with capitalizing off of the tuition of students of color for the title of most diverse university and then taking away opportunities for them to afford an education.

As if eliminating the athletics program was not upsetting enough, the removal of the SPP will also have a detrimental effect. UCR is one of only four UC campuses with a SPP undergraduate program and it has made the university stand out. SPP has done an incredible job of connecting the surrounding community with UCR students and it encourages graduates to stay and improve Riverside county and the Inland Empire. Taking away the SPP will only push people to relocate to other cities instead of staying within the community. This will deprive the Inland Empire of these bright individuals and will also diminish UCR’s growing credibility.

Eliminating the SPP when it is a newly formed school does not give the SPP enough time to prove itself. The school was formed in 2018 and cutting it before it has the chance to make a big difference for the surrounding community is ridiculous and extreme.

Riverside’s SPP has the potential to change many lives for the better and refusing to give so many of these students and faculty a chance is insulting.

The SPP addresses relevant issues such as social mobility,

poverty and systemic racism.

It would be rather hypocritical for an institution who boasts to be the number one in social mobility to eliminate such a program.

It is too drastic of a decision to cut two integral departments, potentially causing so many layoffs for faculty. Many staff members rely on these jobs to put food on the table. What stands out the most is that no members on the BAC are a part of UCR Athletics or the SPP. The lack of representation on the BAC also explains why the SPP was the only academic unit mentioned for elimination. In the official language of their recommendations, the BAC wrote that UCR Athletics and the SPP are not deemed as critical as other components on campus.

It is disappointing that athletics and the SPP were deemed as non-critical when they did not have proper representation to begin with. If a program is the subject of elimination at an institution, it is only fair that every program gets a say in the decision-making process.

Instead of displacing student athletes, SPP students and faculty, UCR should focus more of their efforts on halting the different, unnecessary construction projects on campus for buildings that students and faculty may not even inhabit for the foreseeable future. If UCR were to halt projects such as The Barn, new dorms and apartments that cost millions of dollars, UCR could have potentially addressed many

of their budget cut concerns rather than eliminating entire departments on campus.

While the BAC has proposed that every individual organization prepare to cut their budgets by 10% to 15%, they should focus this on a larger scale instead of cutting whole departments. In addition to this, UCPD and TAPS continue to roam an empty campus and are getting paid for it. With demands to defund UCPD rising from students, it is insulting to see these demands ignored while UCR prepares to instead defund departments at UCR that students deem essential. There are so many avenues that the BAC could have explored in dealing with monetary issues, but it feels as if they are turning a blind eye and moving to easier solutions.

The decision to cut two whole departments when there is money to be found elsewhere feels too hasty and should be reexamined. The BAC needs to be more considerate of students and faculty alike who will be receiving the short end of the stick in this bargain. UCR students need to continue to fight these proposals and sign petitions so that countless students and faculty aren’t displaced due to poor financial H planning. ■

The 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.

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Riverside county’s hasty decision to reopen with a less restricting red-tier status is dangerous and will not last long

Local restraunt worker in Riverside takes a break in the back room

MADISON RHEINS Senior Staff Writer

As of Tuesday, Sept. 22, Riverside County was permitted to move from the most restrictive purple-tier status of reopening to the more lenient red tier. In just a few weeks, movie theatres will resume operation with restrictions, restaurants will resume indoor dining with restrictions and schools may move back to inperson instruction. With all of these reopenings planned in such a short amount of time, it feels as if this decision was made prematurely and citizens living in Riverside could be

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in danger of another COVID-19 wave if no one is careful.

The colored tiers established by the Blueprint for a Safer Economy have been used by counties in California in order to gauge their chances of reopening. The purple tier is the most restrictive status in which the risk level for the county is considered widespread. This means that there are more than seven cases per 10,000 residents in addition to a more than 8% test positivity rate. Not far above this is the red tier status. This is the status in question for Riverside County and the neighboring San Bernardino County which recently

Customers dining outdoors at a restraunt due to Covid-19

failed to reach the red tier as of Sept.

30. Within the red tier status, risk level is still considered substantial with four to seven cases per 10,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 5% to 8%. Considering that the red tier is only one step above the purple tier, it seems premature to allow so many businesses to reopen at once, even with the restrictions put in place.

Moreover, it seems as if Riverside County is more worried about dollar signs than the health of its citizens and are giving in to the pressure put on by those who have been protesting the virus from the start.

What’s more concerning is that individuals who have been reluctant to follow safety precautions from the start would be the most likely to use this change of status as an excuse to not wear masks and increase the risk of spreading the virus. This hasty decision will further reinforce the conspiracy theory that the coronavirus isn’t as serious as it is. Additionally, it will also be difficult to enforce safety precautions especially in places such as a dark movie theatre where people will take their masks off frequently to eat.

Switching into red tier means that in addition to movie theaters, restaurants, places of worship and gyms will resume indoor operations.

This is extremely worrisome because regardless of promising to provide better air filtration, the implementation of that does not guarantee safety. There is no concrete evidence that proves

air filtration lessens the spread of coronavirus indoors. So, in places of worship or restaurants where people gather closely, the county can not ensure that citizens are completely safe from the virus. For instance, even if the red tier status restricts restaurants to 25% capacity or up to 100 people to dine indoors, whichever is fewer, that is still too great of a risk considering that a group of one hundred people in an enclosed space is still dangerous.

It is not a mystery that people have been getting restless. But, making a huge decision like this so hastily means Riverside County’s red tier status could be short lived. It should not matter how many people are protesting the government just because they would rather eat a burger inside of a Carl’s Jr. instead of keeping the immunocompromised safe. Riverside county officials need to put their foot down instead of jumping the gun.

It would be safer and more sensible if officials waited until Riverside County met the orange tier criteria at the very least.

While it appears that Riverside County has made progress with a decreased case rate, this should not translate to jumping to the conclusion that everything should reopen. It would be wiser for officials to wait a little longer for more promising numbers. Otherwise, a second wave of infections in Riverside County and surrounding areas could be just around H the corner. ■

COURTESY OF ELVERT BARNES VIA FLICKR UNDER SHAREALIKE 2.0

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The Politics of Generation Z: How social media has changed the way injustice is resolved

REBECCA SALINAS Contributing Writer

A heavy paralysis has taken over this country. Injustices are not being tended to and instead Americans are divided and sparring over whose side will win. The youth of this nation have witnessed this and have been forced to take in everything silently. They are the ones that have had to endure the pressure.

With America in disarray, it has become clear: the fate of the country relies on its youth.

Interestingly, Generation Z, or “Gen-Z,” has turned to TikTok and Twitter as their main tools to bring injustices to light. This collective shift in how people create discourse about politics and social issues has changed the way politics work today.

Before social media exploded in popularity, major events would be brought to the public’s attention if it found its way to a news outlet. With TikTok and Twitter, it has become easier for people to share information.

Gen-Z has taken advantage of the popularity of social media and are using it as an opportunity to speak out about social injustices. While it is radical that a whole generation is dependent on one tool for

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their voice to get out, it also demonstrates that the use of social media is effective.

Triumphantly, Twitter has brought attention and led to the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement. Since the beginning of the year, Twitter has been used to bring awareness towards the murders of multiple Black Americans. The campaign #IRUNWITHMAUD was used

to demand that the the Brunswik, Georgia district attorney prosecute the murder case of Ahmaud Arbery. The campaign managed to have Arbery’s case be a constant presence in the public’s mind which helped force the eventual prosecution.

Similarly, Twitter has also been used to keep Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman murdered by the police, in the

public’s consciousness. While her case still has not been acknowledged, since her death has not been ruled as a murder, the success of such campaigns insinuates that police will only investigate if there is pressure from the public, making Gen-Z cling to social media in order to bring justice to those harmed.

Most recently, President Trump has threatened to

remove TikTok in an executive order claiming China, where the app is based, is using it to gather private information.

Most people, though, connect Trump’s order to his failed Tulsa rally caused by TikTok users. Theoretically the ban would potentially stop GenZ’s involvement in politics, yet it would not stop their political activism. Many young people have commented that, with or without TikTok, they will still be active in politics and vote in November. This sentiment must be followed. Activism is still possible without social media.

For many months this year, in person protests occurred, helping bring justice to the murder of George Floyd and bring to light the racism that is still prevalent in America. The protests were historical and demonstrated how addressing injustices during this time is no longer focused on only one particular event, but rather a movement.

Gen-Z must not become complacent. Change is possible when younger people speakout.

While social media has only been the manner in which communication has been achieved, with or without it, young Americans still have the H ability to influence politics. ■

Individuals can’t consume their way out of climate change, governments and corporations need to step up

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AMANI MAHMOUD Senior Staff Writer

Weeks ago, the skies around the West Coast took on a surreal glow as smoke from wildfires blazed throughout the region. Photos of smoky and ominous skies in cities such as San Francisco and Portland spread across social media, showcasing just how devastating and apocalyptic the wildfires raging the nation are.

Air quality continues to worsen and the nightmare of these wildfires only offers a glimpse of what is to come unless humans drastically change in order to address climate change.

After decades of scientists’ warnings about the effects of climate change to no avail, it feels as if the world is at the point of no return. With America’s catastrophic divorce from science,

demands on the individual to heal the climate have heightened but, there is simply no quick fix to the West Coast’s catastrophe.

In order to address climate change, the public conversation has shifted the responsibility onto the individual. Individuals are asked to take public transport, purchase electric vehicles, eat less meat, adopt a vegan or vegetarian diet and a plethora of more demands. While individuals should take responsibility for their carbon footprint, the problem is that the obsession with reducing one’s own carbon footprint is harmful. We have until 2030 before climate change damage becomes irreversible but, we cannot place all the responsibility on individuals. Since 1988, 100 fossil fuel companies produced an estimated 70% of industrial

greenhouse gas emissions alone.

In that same period of time, only 25 corporations and state-owned entities were responsible for more than half of global industrial emissions. While both arguments make sense, it feels futile to focus on individual consumption.

People should focus on at least doing their part but, we also need to demand that these companies take drastic measures to reverse the damage they have caused.

These companies are the driving force behind a chain reaction of greenhouse gas emissions. They produce fossil fuels and then consumers use them. Whether that be individuals, corporations or households, these companies have the responsibility to ensure that their products do not cause even more catastrophic damage to the environment. The

target is that the world achieves no more than 1.5° Celsius of global heating but we have little chance of achieving that if the framework of fossil fuel emissions is not eradicated or drastically changed. Despite this, the oil and gas industry is set to spend $4.9 trillion over the next ten years on exploration and extraction in new fields. And yet, there is still a widely accepted notion that reversing climate change rests entirely in the hands of consumer choice.

Impoverished people living in other countries outside of the West specifically take the brunt of the blame for climate change but they deserve the least amount of guilt. They merely are not the principal perpetrators of climate change and they don’t have the power to address climate change on a global scale the way governments and corporations do.

By changing our consumption patterns on a larger scale, we might be able to convince companies to alter their production methods to be more sustainable but statistically, individuals are blameless in comparison to corporations.

Climate change is a global problem that individuals cannot solve on their own. Governments should bear the brunt of reversing climate change and they have the power and influence to administer legislation that forces

corporations to act sustainably.

Some legislation that governments can enact are regulations that corporations must stay within sustainable emission limits. They can also enact legislation that enforces corporations to adhere to environmental protection standards. Governments also have a responsibility to allow individuals to easily make more responsible and sustainable decisions. Recently, California Governor Gavin Newsom passed an executive order that directs the state to require that by 2035, all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California be zeroemission vehicles. This is a good example of how governments and politicians can take the necessary and drastic measures to reduce fossil fuel emissions to fight climate change.

Yes, individuals can make a difference by personally taking the necessary steps to change their behavior and reduce their carbon footprint but, individuals should not be blamed for climate change.

Individuals are the one’s being affected by climate change and bearing the burden of the harmful effects of climate change, so how can they address the cosmic issue all on their own? Corporations need to be held accountable for the destruction that they are causing and governments are the H most powerful tool to do so. ■

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FEATURES

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Campus Cope

Useful resources for all your online learning needs ALEXANDRIA ESTEBAN Senior Staff Writer

Though UCR has permitted some classes to be taught in-person this quarter, many students are still receiving their education from behind a screen.

Online learning does not come without its challenges, but there are ways to take advantage of the online world we are now reliant on. Here are a few websites that can be helpful when navigating this online experience:

1. Cram Cram is a website that allows you to create an unlimited number of virtual flashcards. It has fun interactive games to help you study and, unlike other flashcard websites, Cram lets you upload your own images on each flashcard. If you download their mobile app, you can study your flashcards on the go. It’s easy to use and saves you money on paper.

2. Thriftbook There are many ways to buy textbooks online but one of the cheapest ways is through Thriftbooks.

Thriftbooks is a website that sells used and new books for a cheaper price than most companies. Shipping is generally free and, if you sign up for their rewards program, you can earn a free book for every 500 points. Plus, this website sells more than textbooks. While you are browsing the available options, you might just find a book that you can read for leisure.

3. Grammarly

This is a website many students are already familiar with and has proven to be helpful when writing essays. Grammarly is a free website that proofreads your writing and gives you advice on how to improve what you have already written.

Using Grammarly can help you catch some common grammatical errors before you turn in your assignments. It is not wise to rely on Grammarly completely, but it can be used as a safety net.

4. UCR’s Counseling and Psychological Services This is a stressful time for many students. Know that you do not have to be on campus to utilize UCR’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). CAPS provides mental wellness support and services via phone calls and secure video conferencing. You can call and schedule an appointment at any time. Check out their website for more information. It is important to monitor your mental health, and it is okay to seek help from others in order to do so.

5. The Well While their office is physically closed, The Well is still working remotely this quarter to support the physical and mental wellbeing of UCR students. On their

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website, students can make an appointment to visit The Well on campus and receive a Covid-19 Wellness Kit. This kit includes items such as: thermometers, face coverings, hand sanitizer and more. The Well is also providing virtual meetings with mental health educators and peer-to-peer coaching. If you don’t feel comfortable or

are unable to make an appointment with CAPS, The Well’s website is another good way for you to get the help you may need.

As you can see, the internet has many different websites to help students with their education and well-being. What websites have you found helpful? ■ H

Making friends in a virtual world — connecting with classmates outside of online classrooms ADRIANA MANDUJANO ANGEL Senior Staff Writer

Every year before school starts, I find myself stressing out about whether or not I will be able to make friends. I worry now more than ever since I will no longer have the opportunity to meet people in person with classes being online. However, though it may be difficult to make friends in an online classroom and with social distancing measures in place, it is not impossible.

An easy way to make friends is by interacting with your classmates during Zoom breakout sessions and by participating in class discussions. If you notice a particular classmate taking the same classes as you, reaching out and forming a study group can greatly help you not only in class, but it could also lead you to forming new friendships, especially if they share the same major as you.

One key factor that helps in making friends is by checking your emails.

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Oftentimes, UCR Housing sends out emails with events that serve as great ways to make friends. Keeping an eye on your email and attending events, even if they’re via Zoom, helps. You get to meet people who are interested in the

same activities as you. If checking your emails isn’t for you, you can always follow the Associated Student Program Board (ASPB) on Instagram and be on the lookout for their posts or stories.

If you live in the dorms or on

campus, you may notice that there are a few GroupMe groups pertaining to your building or your residence hall.

This serves as a great way of getting to know your neighbors and also making friends in the process! It might be a great opportunity to gather your neighbors and play a few rounds of Among Us, or even to play online board game simulators.

With everyone being in quarantine I’m sure your neighbors would appreciate some kind of human interaction, so don’t be afraid to reach out!

Despite the fact that in-person meetings and interactions are severely limited, that does not mean that the world is put to a halt. Clubs are still meeting, albeit in an online format. Visiting the Highlander Link website can get you in direct contact with different clubs that you might be interested in. By attending these meetings, not only do you get to make friends, but you also have the opportunity to get involved on H campus. ■

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The do’s and don’ts of living with a roommate during a pandemic

DAPHNE WU Contributing Writer

With the school year starting up again, many of us are moving back to Riverside to focus on our classes and other activities.

This also means that many of us will be moving back in with our roommates.

After being cooped up with our parents for so long, it’s only natural for us to be excited about this change. Once again, we will have the opportunity and freedom to go where we want and see whoever we want. However, with the pandemic still looming around, it’s important that we stay safe and work hard to keep ourselves and those around us healthy despite the lack of parental supervision.

Establishing open communication with your roommate is essential. While living with your friends during a pandemic can be exciting and serve as a great way to pass the time, it can also create a handful of tricky situations. By taking the time to openly discuss what you and your roommates are all comfortable with, you can avoid awkward or potentially dangerous situations. Being open and honest is a great way to set up your boundaries and comfort levels. Many students have even come up with contracts to ensure their safety and the safety of those they live with. In it, they include topics such as: not seeing people outside of their quarantine pod, practicing proper hygiene when returning home, practicing

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social distancing, avoiding enclosed spaces and so on. Having a contract drawn up will hold everyone accountable and will allow everyone to voice their opinion and work to dispute any arguments. It’s important to remember that at a time like this, our actions have detrimental effects, so we need to respect the opinions of those we live with and not ask them to do anything that they are uncomfortable with.

Meeting new people and seeing old friends can be exciting but also kind of stressful right now. After all, we want to maintain a healthy social life for our mental health without putting our physical health in danger. We can do

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The other day, I was sitting in my living room watching “To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” and thought to myself, “Why are none of these characters wearing masks?” when it hit me. The global pandemic has impacted how I view movies, and more specifically, it has made me wonder, how does one do “normal things” such as dating

during a pandemic?

I remember going on dates in crowded malls, eating in packed restaurants and going on simple coffee dates. Looking back, it seems crazy to think of a time where going out without a face mask was normal.

At times, it seems like I took life before a global pandemic for granted, and now I find

this by following the CDC guidelines (maintaining six feet apart and wearing masks) when meeting with people. And although it’s not necessary, it can be helpful to let your roommates know who you are meeting up with. Keep in mind that if you plan on seeing people without masks on or having people over at your place, you need to have a discussion with your roommates first. For example, if your significant other plans on staying over every now and then, you need to make sure your roommates are ok with them coming and going. This may include having your significant other tested for coronavirus or having them sign and agree to the roommate contract as well.

Ultimately, have an emergency plan set in place. Figure out beforehand what to do if you or one of your roommates gets sick and are diagnosed with coronavirus. For example, create a designated quarantine area or make plans to move out. By having a plan set up already, you and your roommates can move effectively while hopefully keeping everyone else safe. All this may seem like a hassle and maybe even a bit unnecessary, but with nearly a year passing and no vaccine in place, we need to change our habits and adapt to the situations in front of us. The pandemic will only get better if we take it seriously and if we recognize just how profound our H actions can be. ■

Keeping the romance alive in the age of coronavirus By: Adriana Mandujano Angel, Senior Staff Writer

myself asking the question: “How does one date?” Now, for the sake of my future self, and yourself included, here are some date ideas that are cute and fitting for the times.

Remember movie theatre dates? Movie lovers can instead host an at-home movie theatre date! Pick up some popcorn and your favorite candies (without paying a fortune), wrap yourself around some blankets and start up your Netflix Party with your significant other. Netflix Party allows you to host movie nights and have fun! If you’re self-isolating, it is a great way to have an online movie date with your partner.

Another great date idea that adheres to social distancing regulations is by playing video games with your significant other.

A game that is popular at the moment is “Among Us” which is free on mobile devices and $5 on Steam. You and your partner could buddy up for tasks and, using your combined brain cells, deduce who the imposter could be. Or, you could both be the imposter and team up to wreak havoc amongst the crewmates. Whichever way you end up going, you are sure to have a fun gaming date.

If you and your partner have been tested for COVID-19 and have both received a negative result, it’s possible to have an inperson date that adheres to social distancing regulations. Going on a picnic date is cute and intimate. Pack up some sandwiches and bring your cutest charcuterie board. Maybe even pick up some boba to go along with your picnic and watch the sunset with your partner, just make sure you remain six feet apart from others!

However, if you still want to watch the sunset with your significant other in a different setting, another great idea is to go camping. Joshua Tree is a great national park that lets you see the stars clearly.

Seeing the sunset with your significant other and watching the stars is a romantic and intimate experience. With everything going on in the world, being with your partner and seeing the stars is a perfect distraction from the real world and is also a really cute date idea.

From movie dates, to picnics, playing games and watching sunsets, dating during a global pandemic is definitely doable. All it takes is some creativity and a person you H really want to spend time with. ■

Radar

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The other side to Sherlock’s coin By: Margarita Manzo, Contributing Writer

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The recently released Netflix original film, “Enola Holmes,” has a lot of big names people recognize, like Mille Bobby Brown, who has garnered fame for her portrayal of Eleven in “Stranger Things.” Here she plays the titular protagonist, Enola Holmes. Enola is the youngest sister of the Holmes family living out in the countryside with her mother, Eudoria (Helena Boham Carter). On Enola’s 16th birthday, her mother disappears, leaving only a codex and a book on the language of flowers behind. In Eudoria’s absence, her brothers, Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft Holmes (Sam Clafin), step up to take care of her. Enola escapes from their watch to search for her mother, picking up another fellow runaway, Teweksbury (Louis Patridge), who is involved in a mystery of his own.

The original Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Authur Conan Doyle made no mention of any other family member aside from Mycroft. That let future generations drawn to the Sherlock stories take creative liberties, with this film being one of those in a long line of them. “Enola Holmes” has the classic Sherlock Holmes detective mystery that draws people in but also adds a feminist coming of age twist. Enola takes the center stage, breaking the fourth wall often to clue the audience in on her thoughts and plans as if we were her John Watson.

Brown does a good job of portraying Enola’s wits through her ability to disguise herself with a change of clothes and her naivety in the scene where she is fooled into paying more for a second rate room than it is worth.

Alongside her, Cavill too shows his acting experience, playing one of my favorite iterations of Sherlock Holmes yet as he sticks closely to the source material in his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. Cavill performs Sherlock’s impassiveness without making him seem inhuman, showing his feelings instead through his eyes and through layered conversations with others. Eudoria Holmes also has that impassiveness and craving for a mystery which she passes onto most of her children, personality traits that

she portrays extremely well in the limited scenes we see her in, which are mostly in flashbacks. Unlike the other characters, Mycroft does not share his family’s wit and spirit of going against the grain. Instead, the eldest Holmes sibling is comfortable and thriving in the traditionalist view that was common in that era. Intent on making Enola the kind of woman he thinks she needs to be, Mycroft is in direct opposition to Enola’s desires, making him fit into the role of one of the film’s many antagonists.

The film targets the same audience that the young adult book does, teenage girls, as Enola learns what it means to be a young woman and discovers the difference between upbringing and morals. For example, in the opening scene when Enola explains the origin of her name, that backwards it is spelled alone which she took as a sign that she always needs to be on her own in the world. She later realizes that that wasn’t the case and goes to find Tewkesbury to save him and solve the mystery around his attempted murder.

The film uses every aspect of its visual and dialogue cues to show the audience Enola’s growth into womanhood, such as the opening scene of Enola shakily riding a bike where towards the end of the series, she rides it without hesitation. It also pays homage to its setting, the Victorian era, with scrapbook cutouts that keep the tone light along with Scrabble ties that allow us to keep up with Enola’s mind. The film also takes it’s time to show the reasons why some women even subscribe to the traditionalist ideas and see those like Enola as crazy. One of those moments is in a scene where Ms. Harrison (Fiona Shaw) who is headmistress to a finishing school, is getting Enola fitted for her uniform. Enola is complaining about the amount of enhancers and layers they list off for her. Miss Harrison defends her ideas with an explanation that it would give her an easy life that comes with access to all kinds of places and friendships, which is a life that everybody wants when H it’s advertised like that. ■

Verdict: While the film leaves details and plotlines unanswered, most likely in hopes for a sequel, it makes up for it in all the other aspects of the story. It’s a good movie to watch if you like mystery and coming of age stories. Like the plot itself, with each watch it unpacks a little bit of its own clues ... If you’re observant enough.

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o c l k B 20 P ar y 0 t 2 By:: Silvia Ferrer, By Senior staff writer ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASPB

In light of the ongoing pandemic, multiple campus organizations have had to scramble to modify their events; the Associated Student Program Board (ASPB) had one of the biggest tasks of all. After the disappointing but necessary cancellation of Spring Splash, it was dubious whether ASPB’s annual fall concert, Block Party, would be cancelled as well. Excitement built on social media platforms once ASPB announced that Block Party would be hosted, albeit with a couple of major changes — it would be held completely virtually and over the span of two nights.

The excitement seemed to double once the lineup video was released. In a shocking move, ASPB turned away from the rap and hip-hop heavy lineups of recent years and revealed artists that would surely satisfy the different music fans that make up UCR. On Friday, DJ Carisma opened the event. Her set up was small and casual, and it was a bit awkward at some parts as she tried to get the virtual crowd excited from her own home. This was, unfortunately, a continuing trend. Without the infectious energy of a crowd to bounce off from, several of the artists struggled to be entertaining.

The event was streamed through Vimeo, a video platform with the ability to have a real-time chat box. In the chat, UCR students expressed their excitement for the next artist, Rico Nasty, the D.C.-area rapper who boasts collaborations with artists such as Kali Uchis and Doja Cat and also has over three million streams on Spotify. She seemed to be the most awaited artist, but unfortunately, she was also the most disappointing by far. Her set-up left much to be desired. While DJ Carisma had hung up LED lights near her DJ booth to boost the ambience, Rico Nasty “performed” in front of her television. “Performed” even seems too strong of a word. Like DJ Carisma, the lack of crowd meant that Rico Nasty was essentially singing alone in her living room and she did not seem to attempt to liven up for the event. Even worse, the stream glitched for most of her set.

The video recording was subpar and the audio quality was downright terrible. The chat blew up with jokes to defund ASPB as the audio quality remained incomprehensible. It was unknown whether the video streams would in fact be live, and Rico’s stream showed that it was not as she continued to “sing” despite the obvious audio issues and posted a selfie on her Instagram in a completely different outfit. Her audio would

have been fixed quickly had it been a live show, but it continued to sound like gibberish through the end. Considering her lazy set up and the quality of the video overall, students would have been better off watching a video of one of her concerts from their phone; at least then, it would have been free.

Up next, Dominic Fike, rapper and singer, was a welcome change. Although the video was also obviously prerecorded, it seemed like Fike’s team had put in an immense amount of effort in creating a decent setup. Fike appeared at an empty warehouse, in which he continually joked was too hot for him to feel comfortable in. The video and audio was crystal clear and remained so for the entirety of his set. Better yet, while Rico Nasty ran through song after song without much regard toward the Highlanders watching, Fike made constant comments during and in between songs to address the audience. He called out “Yeah, Highlanders!” more times than I can count and even addressed the camera and said, “If I had gone to college, it definitely would have been at UCR.” By trying to personalize it to UCR, it made the experience a lot more special, it was like being at an actual concert instead of just watching a music video. The chatbox was lively during his set, but it quickly became too unmanageable to watch; trolls flooded the inbox with aggressive political messages in what seemed to be a attempt at riling other users up and the chat was eventually shut off The chat was turned back on for the headliner of Day 1, Kaytranada. The producer had a less fancy set up than Fike, but it was very cozy. He was in a corner of his home surrounded by his DJ materials and, like DJ Carisma, had LED lights casting a warm purple glow. He wore a soft looking sweater that added to the coziness of his atmosphere. There is not much more that can be said about the producer besides the indisputable fact that his set retained the distinctly woozy sounds of his songs, which he peppered in with his more upbeat hip-hop beats.

Day 2, although more organized than Day 1, was pretty underwhelming. All of the artists were far better setup than the ones from days prior; San Francisco dream pop group No Vacation had the most simple set up by far, but it was organized and the quality of their sound matched the ones of the much fancier Los Tucanes De Tijuana, a Mexican norteno band and most surprising artist to be included in the lineup. Los Tucanes De Tijuana were back dropped against

a black stage and light show, which was the most enjoyable viewing experience. Although the next three artists, D Smoke, Tchami and YG had an impressive setup (after all, expectations were low after that Rico Nasty performance), it was pretty forgettable for someone who isn’t into their music genres. Producer Tchami tried to bring the club vibes into Highlander homes with his stunning visuals and house music as did the beats of YG and D Smoke, but without the energy of the crowd to match, all the artists failed to bring about the same experience that an in-person Block Party would have achieved easily.

Although ASPB’s effort is worthy of applause, this year’s Block Party was a letdown. While it has the most diverse and extensive lineup of prior years, it seems like the money was misplaced considering it seemed like the artists were left to their own devices to create their own setup and manage audio and visual quality. The distinction between the quality of video, sets, apparel and most importantly, sound was jarring throughout, as none of the acts had any sort of cohesion.

The ongoing pandemic will likely affect winter quarter’s Winter Soulstice and spring’s Spring Splash. Highlanders can only hope that ASPB learns from this lukewarm experience to bring H about a better event next quarter.■

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020

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is the most diverse event ASPB has hosted yet — in more ways than one

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020

THE HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports

Big West Conference forms Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee HIGHLANDER STAFF

The Big West Conference announced on Sept. 12 the formation of a standing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. The committee will consist of one administrator and one student-athlete from each of the Big West’s 11 member institutions, which includes UCR. UCR soccer player Katie Wong and Director of Athletics Tamica Smith Jones will represent UCR on the committee.

Going by the name Big West Undivided, the committee plans to address Black Lives Matter and similar movements and organizations. In an official statement, Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly stated, “The formation of a standing committee focused on issues associated with diversity, equity and inclusion, with significant leadership provided by our student-athletes, provides the opportunity for the Big West Conference to have a voice, contribute to the discussion, provide solutions

and have a positive impact on combating hate, racism, discrimination and inequality.”

Big West Undivided will run under four different core principles: education, empowerment, accountability and change. They plan to educate committee members and league constituents on the importance of diversity and inclusion, empower studentathletes and administrators to find the voice to fight injustice, hold those in campus communities and departments accountable for their actions and speech and create lasting change in campuses and communities through peaceful means and initiatives.

In the upcoming months, Big West Undivided will work with the conference’s Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) on voter initiatives to encourage student-athletes to take part in the electoral process and provide nonpartisan resources and voter registration H information. ■

COURTESY OF BIG WEST

Be informed.

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