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Janice continues to build national presence for women’s lacrosse

By
Nina Greenebaum
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The Occidental women’s lacrosse team has emerged as a SCIAC and NCAA Division-III powerhouse over the past two seasons. After the departure of former head coach Michele Uhlfelder this past off season, new head coach Stephanie Janice has built upon the strong foundation established over the program’s five-year history. Though the squad lost several seniors at the end of last year, the returning corps and the team’s newcomers have risen to the challenge under Janice’s tutelage, currently holding a 6-1 overall (6-0 SCIAC) record.

Janice moved to Los Angeles from the East Coast upon being offered the position of head coach, joining her fiancé and Caltech head baseball coach Matthew Mark in Southern California.

Born in New Jersey, Janice attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where she played Division-I lacrosse in the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC). Following her collegiate career as a student-athlete, she returned to NCAA lacrosse as a coach – first at Goucher College (Baltimore) and later at Allegheny College (Meadville, Penn.).

Director of Athletics Jaime Hoffman was intimately involved in the search for a new women’s lacrosse head coach after Uhlfelder’s departure. Following conversations with both Uhlfelder and Betsey Mitchell, former Director of Athletics at Allegheny College, Hoffman was confident in pursuing Janice.

“She was a phenomenal player at one of the top national powerhouse colleges for lacrosse,” Hoffman said. “She is a winner wherever she goes.”

Janice has enjoyed success in the sport throughout her career, both as a player and coach. However, her lacrosse experience up until her recent move to Los Angeles has been exclusively on the East Coast.

“It is exciting for me to come out here and help grow the sport,” Janice said. “People are enthusiastic because it is new. I have been so impressed with the SCIAC play. The athleticism is there.”

Janice also enjoys the perks of Los Angeles weather. In stark contrast to the East Coast, where the threat of snow and freezing temperatures frequently looms during the lacrosse season, the Southern California climate was welcomed by Janice with open arms.

“It is very impressive to not have to have any indoor practices in the gym,” Janice said. “I do not have to worry about frostbite. Our abilities to succeed in a short amount of time has been fostered by the weather. It is really amazing.”

Janice has also clicked with the Occidental community, more specifically her team.

“Oxy has such a campus feel, but the city is at your fingertips if you want it,” Janice said. “Everyone seems to be in a good mood all the time. I’ve also just been really impressed with my student-athletes. They are really motivated not only on the [lacrosse] field, but also in the classroom.”

The players have embraced the transition equally, backing Janice’s efforts with strong performances on game day. Captain defender Emily Fowler (senior) spoke highly of Janice’s coaching and relationship with the team.

“We had such a fresh start with her being new,” Fowler said. “She really embraced [the Occidental] mentality.”

Now, at the mid-way point of the 2014 season and with six wins under her belt, Janice wants to continue improving attendance at lacrosse games from both the on-campus and off-campus communities.

“I have been impressed with the vibe on campus and the good amount of spirit,” Janice said. “I want to keep garnering the excitement towards lacrosse.”

The Tigers were in action against North Central (Ill.) at the time of publication. The team hosts Pacific Lutheran today at 4 p.m. at Jack Kemp Stadium.

 

 

 

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SoCal MMA delivers knockout deal to Occidental students

By
Malcolm MacLeod
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A nondescript brick building sits next to the Starbucks and CVS on York Boulevard.

At the back of the building are two industrial-sized garage doors, leading into a large loft space that has been converted into a training facility.

The doors are kept wide open during classes, with the breeze keeping patrons cool as they sweat and toil under the tutelage of owner and head trainer Joey Alvarado.

This building is home to SoCal MMA, a Mixed Martial Arts and fitness gym.

Alvarado, who has over 30 years of martial arts training, often reminisces about one of his former students that competed at an elite level.

“I remember like it was yesterday; Nick Arrow was his name,” Alvarado said. “Real big, athletic kid from Occidental. I trained him for two months before his first and only MMA fight.”

Due to Alvarado’s coaching, Arrow was able to fight to a draw against an opponent with far more training in martial arts than himself.

But Alvarado understands that fighting is not for everyone. Therefore, his gym is open to serious martial artists like Arrow and also to people with varying abilities in strength, fitness and training.

Two such students are Occidental’s Michael Cao (first-year) and Nina Aaltonen (senior), both of whom recently began training at the facility.

“It’s a great place to work out,” Aaltonen said. “It’s so close to Oxy. I don’t have a car, so I can walk, and I can come in here pretty much any time. Not to mention, I really think it makes you push yourself a bit harder when you’re working out in group like this.”

SoCal MMA offers martial arts classes in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts under the guidance of Alvarado and his co-trainers, Chris Baca and Jason Parry. Baca fought on the Navy boxing team and teaches striking, while Parry and Alvarado are high-level Jiu Jitsu practitioners.

Alvarado won the Pan-American Jiu Jitsu Championships twice, and his gym also hosts a small number of amateur fighters and competitive Jiu Jitsu players who spar live in preparation for their upcoming matches.

“We don’t give off that, ‘Oh, fresh meat,’ vibe you get in some gyms,” Alvarado said. “Some people just want to get in really good shape, and that’s been a big part of our success here.”

Along with traditional martial arts, SoCal MMA holds alternative classes, such as Kettle-Jitsu, that are more accessible to everyday clients and beginners.

Kettle-Jitsu, Alvarado’s brain child, is a workout routine that blends kettle bell exercises with movements from martial arts.

According to Alvarado, the result is a full-body workout that fosters functional strength and athleticism.

Alvarado’s Kettle-Jitsu students squat, clean, punch and maneuver around a matted space, all while controlling the unruly exercise tool that is the kettle bell.

“Kettle-Jitsu has been my claim to fame as of late,” Alvarado said. “It’s bringing a lot of people into the gym who were tired of the same old routines.”

Alvarado’s students are willing to let him know when his workouts need adjustment, a collaborative process that has been essential to the gym’s recent success.

“You can always teach an old dog new tricks,” Baca said while smacking the pads with Eskrima sticks, a Filipino martial art he has picked up to improve the angles of his striking.

The adaptability of SoCal MMA’s coaches and their willingness to learn as they teach has contributed a great deal to their recent success.

For them, MMA is about much more than just getting hit.

“They won’t push you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Cao said. “My favorite part is the kickboxing, but some people aren’t here for that. If you’re committed to the workouts, you can really get a lot out of it.”

 

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Life-size art goes political, symbolic

By
Stephen Nemeth
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The Occidental community is no stranger to large-scale political statements and interactive art projects, and the life-size replica of a Predator MQ-1B drone in front of Thorne Hall embodies both.

Organized through OxyArts – an initiative created to raise the visibility of the arts as part of the Occidental community – this sculpture was created by Los Angeles-based artist-collective Finishing School, in collaboration with independent artists Nadia Afghani and Matt Fisher. They chose to call the piece, “We Will Show You Fear in a Handful of Dust.”

On March 14, the foam components of the drone were carried off a truck and assembled in the area in front of Thorne Hall. Over the next few days anyone walking by was allowed to join in and help mix adobe or apply it to the foam structure.

Art History and Visual Arts major Jack Baker (junior) recalls at least 30-50 Occidental students participating in the installation’s creation over the weekend of March 14, getting their hands dirty working on the drone while over 100 students looked on. The sculpture took three days to complete and will stand on campus until May 9.

Ed Giardina, a member of Finishing School, delivered this quote by historian Lewis Mumford in his essay “Authoritarian and Democratic Technics” initially inspired the group to pursue this type of project:

“From late Neolithic times in the Near East, right down to our own day, two technologies have recurrently existed side by side: one authoritarian, the other democratic, the first system-centered, immensely powerful, but inherently unstable, the other human-centered, relatively weak, but resourceful and durable.”

OxyArts director Aandrea Stang has already organized several other projects on campus, such as Liz Collins’s KN12:H20, Kenneth Tam’s exhibition The Trouble Between Us and Devon Tsuno: Watershed.

“I first worked with Finishing School in 2008 and have watched their artistic practice evolve since then,” Stang said via email. “Last summer after we received funding from the Kathryn Caine Wanlass Charitable Foundation for the Wanlass Artist in Residence Program, I began talking to the collective about doing a project on campus and what it might look like. The Wanlass family is interested in supporting projects that promote cross campus dialogue, so Liz Collins’ Knitting Nation piece, KN12: H20 and ‘We Will Show You Fear in a Handful of Dust’ both respond well to that mandate.”

In addition to the drone being a statement piece, it was intended to foster public engagement and interest. Along with members of the Occidental community, local community members were also welcome to take part in the project to create a life-size replica of a Predator MQ-1B drone. Students from Cypress College, where Giardinaand Afghani both teach, also contributed to the project over the weekend.

Baker helped publicize the project on campus and build the drone.

“We’re utilizing the space that we have and our connection with these amazing L.A. artists to work to create a dialogue that needs to be talked about and I had an amazing time doing it,” Baker said. “I do not know if it really changes anyone’s political position on the subject because that is not really the point of it. The point is just to spark a dialogue on the abstraction of killing with drones, this remote killing.”

According to Afghani, the artists were able to sculpt large blocks of foam to create the form of the drone using a computer numerical control (CNC) cutter.

“We wanted to juxtapose that by using a very human-centric way of architectural building, which is to mix adobe and apply a coat of adobe mud on top of this industrially manufactured form,” Afghani said. “We were really drawn to represent this technology in a way that is both new and old.”

For more information on the project and drones, Fisher wrote an essay available at the project site outside Thorne Hall.

 

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Will Westwater

By
Editor
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@WillyDubz

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'Fang' rises in popularity, increases wittiness

By
Wellesley Daniels
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After haphazardly stumbling across an old issue of the Fang in Special Collections, four seniors set out to resuscitate Occidental’s once-robust but long-defunct literary magazine last spring. Unlike Feast, the college’s chief arts and literary review, the Fang strives to be an alternative, satirical publication of subversive and provocative humor and content.

“I was on the Feast literary committee for two years. I think they do a really good job for what they do, but I think there’s a whole other branch of things that should be done on campus,” Fang co-editor and English and Comparative Literary Studies major Jacob Surpin (senior) said. “We differ from Feast in that we publish four times a year. We can take faculty and alumni so it’s not just current students. And we’re a little more fun – we take ourselves a little less seriously.”

The staff takes the mantra of having fun very seriously, while also taking on a professional and academic approach.

“I’ve found that I really enjoy it. We really just want to showcase that people are doing cool things on campus and they should be talked about,” Art History and Visual Arts major Zoe Butler (senior) said. “And we’re creating more of an arts culture.
Because we need so many submissions, we’re forced to reach out to people and say, ‘Hey make art, submit to the Fang.’ I have friends that have written things specifically for the Fang.”

In the past year, the new generation of staff has published several issues, created a website and recruited younger members to ensure the magazine’s lasting existence. New member and undeclared Brita Loeb (sophomore) wrote a poem mocking the notorious “Oxy Confessions” Facebook page.

“Brita’s Oxy Confessions poem from last issue is a perfect representation of the humor portion of the publication because it uses comedy to transcend the pain and social anxiety that sometimes surrounds us,” Fang staff member and Group Language and Art History and Visual Arts double major Samuel Wylie (junior) said. “It’s critical that we as humans continue to laugh at our own behavior. When we lose that perspective, our souls darken. I hope The Fang will continue to articulate our hilarious fallibility.”

Much to the delight of the various Fang staff members, the magazine has even sold copies to local bookstores.

“We got our first issue into Skylight Books and in Los Feliz,” Butler said. “Skylight bought seven copies from us. I went back in December and there were still seven copies, but [the point is] they were there.”

The Fang editors seek to expand the influence the magazine has on arts culture, even exploring mediums such as performance art.

“Our friend Elise pitched a performance art piece where she would make a bed out of cake, and we had a Fang party around it,” Butler said. “She got on the bed of cake and took a 15-minute nap and had a dream about weasels. While she was napping, people were going up and taking pieces for themselves. I think that was a good point for us to start being more involved with arts around campus.”

The Fang is a donation-funded publication. In conjunction with a release party, the next issue will be sold in the quad in mid-to-late April.

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Same gaming conference, new results

By
Will Westwater
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Every year the Game Developers’ Conference (GDC) gets more exciting, and this year was no exception. Last week in San Francisco, GDC revealed new titles and more impressive technology than has ever been done before at previous GDC years.

Gearbox’s “Borderlands 2” hand-held edition for the PS Vita had a promising demo for play at GDC. Fans of the series will be happy to know that the move to hand-held platform didn’t sacrifice much in terms of gameplay. Some of the only differences seen at this showing were the increased load times and that the bodies of the dead enemies disappeared very quickly. Both are small tolls in the impressive movement from a console to a handheld platform. Seeing a full, relatively seamless, port-to-hand-held of a previous gen console title reminds gamers of how far technology is coming.

GDC had a few game reveals. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed Unity” was formally introduced, though plot details have not yet been revealed it is clear the game will take place in France. “Assassin’s Creed Unity” will be for this generation of consoles (Xbox One, PS4 and PC), as well as another stand-alone title that is rumored for last-generation consoles.

In addition, Ubisoft’s “Far Cry 4” was revealed and will take place in the Himalayas, complete with ridable elephants. An official reveal is imminent at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June.

In hardware, Valve’s Steambox controller showed some improvement from its last showing at the consumer electronics show; however, those at the GDC claimed players will still have a more than comfortable learning curve.

On the ever-expanding virtual reality (VR) front, the team behind the Oculus Rift (the headset that opened gamers’ eyes to a new virtual frontier) announced their improved iteration of their headset, Crystal Cove. While Crystal Cove is still a prototype, its new features include a depth-sensing camera (in order to fine tune real-world motion into in-game motion) and HD displays in each eye. The improved developer kit of the Oculus Crystal Cove is currently available for pre-order for $350.

Answering all of Oculus’ hype was Sony, who unveiled their virtual reality headset called “Project Morpheus.” “Project Morpheus” fits comfortably over the player’s head, even those with glasses. It was incredibly accurate and incorporated the Playstation move controller. One of the demos gave the players two swords and set them next to a medieval practice dummy made of hay. The move controller captured every single movement of the arms while the “Project Morpheus” headset allowed the player to look around as if they were in the game.

Sony managed to outdo themselves by showing off their new eye-tracking software. After a short calibration, the infrared sensor bar picks up eye movements of the player, so instead of using the right stick to move the camera or to aim an attack, the player uses his or her eyes. The eye-tracking software took some getting used to for those lucky enough to try it out, but in a short time players could start picking off targets with just their eyes.

These technologies, when perfected, could change the way we interact in the virtual plane. Gamers will have to wait until E3 to find out release dates and what is next.

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Turn basic ingredients into lavish meals, all in REHS halls

By
Lena Smith
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Last semester, the Bell-Young kitchen enabled a friendship between Diplomacy and World Affairs (DWA) major Nick Theyerl (junior) and the Bell-Young cleaning staff. The unlikely cohorts exchanged stories over routine potluck breakfasts.

“They always brought pan dulce on Fridays, and I would make coffee,” Theyerl said in an email.

Apart from Braun and Berkus Halls, all on-campus residence halls provide a communal kitchen like the one used for these breakfast dates. Each kitchen contains a stove, an oven or both. Defined by REHS as “warming kitchens,” they are not designed for cooking full-course meals. According to Chilcott Hall Residential Adviser (RA) and DWA and economics double major Emily Linebarger (sophomore), it would be too expensive for the school to maintain the kitchens at state standards for cooking raw food, such as meat or eggs.

To avoid the inconvenience of waiting for an oven to reheat, foods such as pastas, salads and no-bake desserts are ideal. Three recipes that satisfy the palate and the stomach are pasta alla norma, caprese salad and strawberry parfaits. Such dorm-made meals can provide a fresh twist to the standard, generic foods served at the Marketplace and Cooler.

Pasta alla norma

This recipe requires a sauce pan and a large pot for cooking pasta, materials not typically supplied in the residence halls. The best place to find cookware is Chilcott Hall, where a closet is stocked with assorted pots and pans, which RAs such as Linebarger are more than willing to unlock.

“Anyone can ask. Most of my residents use the closet for big pans and cooking spoons,” Linebarger said.

Ingredients:

1 package frozen, fried eggplant (equivalent of half an eggplant, about 2 cups)

1 bag uncooked pasta (penne is a practical choice, since the hollow center allows it to hold sauce)

Sauce:

1 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, crushed

½ yellow onion, diced

water for boiling

salt and pepper to taste

To prepare: Fill pot ¾ full with water and 1 tablespoon olive oil (to prevent pasta from sticking together) and heat until boiling. Once boiling, pour pasta into water and reduce heat to medium. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove pasta approximately 1-2 minutes less than directions on pasta for Italian al dente style.

To prepare eggplant, spread contents of package on a baking sheet and follow instructions on packaging for cook time (about 20 minutes, or until eggplant is crispy).

For the sauce, heat crushed tomatoes in a saucepan with diced onions until the liquids simmer and onions are soft.

Drain pasta and pour into bowl. Stir in sauce mixture and eggplant slices. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Caprese salad

With basil picked straight from the plant (accessibility permitting), this Italian appetizer has the freshest flavor on campus.

Ingredients:

12 small mozzarella balls

20 cherry tomatoes

Fresh basil to taste

Dressing:

3 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

Minced garlic to taste

Add all ingredients to a bowl and toss. Allow dressing to soak into tomatoes and cheese for at least 5 minutes, then scoop into individual containers. Since not all residence hall kitchens come equipped with dinnerware, be prepared to improvise for food containers. The caprese salad is easily devoured from plastic cups, which can typically be found in kitchen cabinets after residence hall spreads.

Individual strawberry parfaits

A creamy treat, the parfait puts a summery twist on traditional tiramisu.

½ cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

1 (8 ounce) container ricotta

1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone

⅔ cup sugar

5 graham crackers

Mix water and 1 tablespoon sugar, soak strawberries in mixture for about 10 minutes.

Whip together ricotta, mascarpone and sugar until thick and creamy. Mixture will appear smooth. Line bottom of container with graham crackers. Cover crackers with strawberries and sugar mixture. Scoop several tablespoons of cheese batter onto strawberries. Repeat 1-2 times, or until all ingredients are used.

These easily-prepared delicacies make the most of a residence hall warming kitchen and make enough food for three people, leaving plenty to share with a fellow resident or staff member.

Penne pasta and parfait recipes courtesy of Giovanna Bettoli. Caprese salad recipe courtesy of Lena Smith.

Despite these limitations, students find ways to be creative when preparing food in residence halls. As a freshman in Stewart-Cleland Hall, Japanese studies major Marty Guerero (sophomore) utilized the kitchens on a weekly basis, preparing snacks such as chocolate caramel swirl brownies, cookies and rice spiced with curry. However, he noticed that the kitchens are not always adequate even for the allowed food preparation.

“Updating the machinery would be a great idea. In Stewie, the stove would take a while. I would always see people turning it on and walking away, which is dangerous,” Guerero said.

 

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Students, administrators re-examine small business policies

By
Earl Park
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Members of entrepreneurial club Oxypreneurship and administrators are collaborating to help students start campus businesses while remaining in accordance with state law. These efforts are part of Oxypreneurship’s aim to promote entrepreneurial education on campus.

According to Oxypreneurship member and economics major Siddharth Saravat (junior), Oxypreneurship is focused on increasing access to entrepreneurship on campus and making it a reality for all students. The Occidental policy prohibiting students from running businesses on campus is a major hindrance to this goal.

The Occidental student handbook states that, “Students and staff may not establish or operate a business on campus property for personal profit, nor may they use campus facilities to conduct any portion of such businesses.”

Saravat noted the restrictions placed on student-run businesses are due more to government policies than the college’s. Despite the restraints, college administrators and Oxypreneurship are attempting to work within the policy to give students the resources needed to succeed.

“A lot of the administration and staff on campus are on board with us,” Saravat said. “We are working with them on finding a way to provide students the experience of running a business but staying true to the policy. We have come to consensus for an educational experience.”

Assistant Dean of Students for Student Development and Director of Student Life Tamara Rice said that restrictions on student-run businesses bans are not uncommon among colleges. Government policy prohibits use of college property for personal financial gain at not-for-profit colleges, according to Rice.

“It does have tax implications, and that is why we have to be careful about operating like a business or being an incubator for businesses,” Rice said. “However,we also want to encourage student learning on how to run a business.We do have the Green Bean, and that’s a student business. We also have student serviceslike The [Occidental] Weekly and Bengal Bus that collect revenue and operate.We want to support entrepreneurial activity, but just do it in a way that the framework allows us.”

Rice went on to explain that if the activity has a direct link to a class or an academic endeavor, it is much easier to gain approval. She stated that the policy does not prohibit business models supervised by a faculty member because they fall under the category of an academic exercise.

Undeclared Joshua Eidelman (first-year) hopes to start a laundry business and is optimistic about the recent efforts by Oxypreneurship and the administration. He said that it used to be difficult to start a business, but a commitment by the administration to promoting entrepreneurship has made the process easier.

“The Vice President of Finance [and Planning Amos Himmelstein] is all about supporting students on campus,” Eidelman said. “Prior, there were legality issues, but he’s been helping us override all that. It’s an ongoing process but there are major strides in the opposite direction.”

According to Eidelman, a critical part of starting a business on campus is the Oxypreneurship “Incubation Team,” which helps students through the legal process of starting a business. Saravat, a member the Incubation Team, said that the group aims to take business ideas and turn them into a reality.

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Dance Production 2014 dazzles sold-out crowds

By
Malcolm MacLeod
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With the lights dimmed, three silhouettes appeared in front of an ominous blue background. Suddenly the lights came to life, the dancers were revealed and Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” reverberated throughout Thorne Hall, kicking off Dance Production (Dance Pro) 2014.

The 66th anniversary of Occidental’s entirely student run, choreographed and produced dance show, began with this powerful number “Yoncé” choreographed by sociology major Dalin Celamy (sophomore). The dance included 52 of the 300-member cast and used a number of Beyonce’s greatest hits to channel the passion and dedication of the Dance Pro cast.

“[The dance] was so much better than last year,” Celamy said. “I had a lot more people in my dance, so that meant more responsibility, but it also meant that we could start the show off right and distinguish our piece as really special.”

According to their note in the program handout, Dance Production co-presidents psychology majors Courtney Jones (senior) and Ricah Rejano (senior) wanted to teach and spread the love of dance while bringing their audience on an adventure.

Having missed out on Dance Pro last year while abroad in Rome, this show was particularly important to Jones, who has participated in Dance Pro throughout her Occidental career.

“Well, anyone who went to the Saturday show saw that I was really emotional,” Jones said. “[Rejano] and I have been involved with Dance Pro for four years. It happens so quickly, and then it’s just over. Dance pro has a really special place in my heart; I just have so much love for the club.”

The influence of contemporary genres such as hip-hop and electronic dance music (EDM) added to the program. Pieces such as “Hip Hoppers vs. Hipsters,” choreographed by economics major Michael Schulze (junior), and “The Big Game,” choreographed by undeclared major Clare Shuey (sophomore) and theater major Declan Meagher (sophomore), highlighted these contemporary genres. The transition between hip-hop and EDM in Shuey and Meagher’s dance was both unexpected and well-executed as the dancing grew more robotic as the music progressed. Not to mention, Shuey blowing a kiss at the end of Schulze’s piece melted hearts throughout the theater.

“One of my favorite things about Dance Pro is you have all these people that love to dance on the DL [down low] all year long, then they go wild on stage and show what they can do, and no one expects it. It’s such a cool thing to see happen,” Shuey said.

The modern influences widely exhibited in the show were often coupled with foundational genres, such as swing or jazz.

Pieces like Art History and Visual Arts major Raven Juergensen’s (junior) “The Breakfast Club,” and Jones and Rejano’s “Willy Wonka and the Hip Hop Factory” made use of props and costumes to remind the audience of the dances’ cinematic bases.

“Everyone pretty much has free reign to do what they like with their dances, and I think that really showed in the creativity of our dances this year,” Jones said.

Dancing to sounds that varied from Linkin Park’s “Paranoid” to soundbites from the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie required the dancers to exhibit a wide repertoire of performing skills.

A diverse array of cultures were also represented in this year’s Dance Production. The show’s second piece, “Dilli ke Badtameez Dhol,” choreographed by Urban and Environmental Policy and theater double major Marisha Thakker (senior), contrasted the dark and sassy feel of the opening act with its yellow costumes and eastern sounds.

Breaking from the show’s fast-paced, often contemporary emphasis, the traditional Hawaiian dance “Ike i ke one kana a’o Nohili” by sociology major Tommy Smith (junior) brought a sense of peace and calm to the production, as the dancers moved like statues brought to life by the beat of drums and Smith’s live vocals. Similarly, the dance “Ruins” used slow music and expressive dance to tell stories.

Traditional Latin dance, Irish step dancing and Middle Eastern belly dancing were also given contemporary makeovers in the hands of the talented student choreographers.

The show ended with a finale comprised of all the senior participants, along with the choreographers and e-board members. With fast-paced dance moves to a catchy mix of songs, the finale quickly evolved into a full cast number as dancers flooded the aisles of Thorne Hall.

The finale left the audience full of energy and with a palpable appreciation for the hard work the students put into the show. “Most of my Oxy experience has been built around it [Dance Pro], and I think I’m leaving it on a great note with this year’s show,” Jones said.

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World News Issue 6

By
Clark Scally
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Libya. The UN Security Council authorized countries to board any ships suspected of carrying stolen Libyan oil from rebel-held ports. This comes just days after the United States forces captured an oil tanker transporting crude oil from rebel bases to be sold on the black market. This resolution supports the Libyan central government in their long-running standoff with rebel forces, who have now captured several ports scattered along the coast. Commenting on U.S. Naval involvement, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya Samantha Power expressed support for the swift implementation of the resolution to deter others from seeking Lybian oil as well. “Theft of Libyan oil is theft from the Libyan people,” Power said.

Reuters and BBC World Service

Egypt. An Egyptian court sentenced 529 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death on Monday. Those convicted are part of a group of 545 defendants on trial in the southern Minya province, arrested during protests against the dispersal of camps of protesters in Cairo by police forces. The charges included violence, murder, killing a policeman, storming a police station, attacking persons and damaging public and private property. According to lawyer Ahmed al-Sharif, the ruling can be appealed. During the trial, only 123 of the defendants were present. The rest were either released, out on bail or on the run.

Reuters

United States. A survivor of a 2009 chimpanzee attack is seeking to sue Connecticut for $150 million in damages. Charla Nash was mauled when trying to help her friend coax her 14-year-old chimpanzee named Travis back into the house. The chimp was shot dead at the scene by responding police officers. Because in Connecticut it is nessecary to gain permission before suing the state, Nash’s lawyers will present her case to the Connecticut State Judiciary Committee on Friday. Connecticut attorney general spokeswoman, Jaclyn Falkowski, said that the state is not responsible for Nash’s injuries and that taking responsibility would set a dangerous precedent.

CNN and The Gulf Times

Ecuador. Since 1993, a group in Ecuador called “afectados” (the affected) have battled Texaco over the alleged effects of years of oil drilling in the country. Texaco, now owned by Chevron Oil, had been drilling in the area until 1992. In the wake of the oil production, local, mostly indigenous people have experienced high rates of cancer. The court battle has spread to international courts as the afectados seek retribution from the multinational corporation. Just this month a United States court overturned a $9.5 billion settlement because of alleged corruption by one of the lawyers in the case. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called the decision imperialism because of the involvement of the U.S. in the foreign matter.

NPR


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