An Associated Students of Occidental College (ASOC) survey issued Feb. 1 to gauge student interest in additional reading days has revealed discontent with the current number of days students have to prepare for final exams. The findings will contribute to an ongoing campaign by ASOC to have the school add more reading days to the academic calendar.
ASOC Vice President of Academic Affairs, Diplomacy and World Affairs (DWA) and Urban and Environmental Policy (UEP) double major Enoch Sowah (junior) emailed the entire student body with the survey.
“The response from students was overwhelming, given that we are generally very busy students, sometimes not checking emails all the time,” Sowah said.
The survey garnered 500 responses in the first day and 818 responses in total. Ninety-six percent of those students said they would benefit from reading day extensions. A plurality of students want three extra reading days, and 21 percent wanted five extra. Sixty-three percent of students would be comfortable with returning earlier to school to accommodate for the additional days.
While the academic calendar has already been finalized for this year and next, the 2015-2016 year may have additional reading days if the discussion continues between students and the Dean of the College.
This semester, as is customary,students will have one official reading day and the weekend to prepare for finals. Reading days give students extra time to study and contact professors leading up to finals week. But according to some students, weekends do not necessarily offer the same benefits as days off during the week.
“Though we have much longer breaks at Oxy, we have shorter reading days than other schools, such as Pomona,”Sowah said. “A problem is that professors are often not on campus on weekends.”
UEP major Rachel Taylor (sophomore) agrees it would be universally beneficial to extend reading days beyond the weekend before finals week.
“To me, [weekends] don’t count as reading days. Not a lot is getting done in class those days before finals. I think time would be better spent on your own studying,” Taylor said. “Most professors are very slow answering emails on the weekends.”
Sowah is spearheading the effort to secure more reading days for students. He has met several times with Dean of the College Jorge Gonzalez since last semester. The faculty and the registrar were also included in discussions.
While results from the survey will strengthen his case, Sowah said that the college will need consistent pressure from students to implement changes to the academic calendar.
“Going forward, one thing I’d like to point out is that this is important to all us students. We need to follow up with a conversation already started, much beyond the survey,” Sowah said. “Based on student insistence, I’m hopeful.”
The Occidental College Studio Art Departmentis currently hosting Los Angeles-based artist Devon Tsuno. His show, “Watershed,” demonstrates not only the artist’s intimate relationship with the Los Angeles River, but also the poignant, symbolic meaning of water in the city of Los Angeles. His personal interest in water as a symbolmakes him the perfect fit for a residency here at Occidental, where water is the chosen theme for this year’s Cultural Studies Program.
Irene Lam
Tsuno describes his work as violentand beautiful but illogical, just like the city of Los Angeles. His paintings include vibrant, colorful, chaotic imagery of the Los Angeles River and the surrounding plant life, which is largely composed of invasive species to Southern California.These natural symbols reflect the city’s diversity and the fine balance between peace and chaos [observed by]Tsuno through the riots in the ’90s in L.A.
Tsuno’s show at Occidental is a multimedia experience. It consists of paintings, his preferred medium, but also provides viewers with a variety of Tsuno’s trades. His show also features thousands of risograph prints, an art form he has taken up in the past year, a first foray into sculpture and a collaborative effort in bookmaking with Occidental letterpress students.
The multifaceted nature of Tsuno’s show at Occidental reflects his willingness to push boundaries and challenge himself, something he has been doing for years.
“When I was a kid, I used to fish in the ponds and smaller bodies of water in urban areas,” Tsuno said. He taught himself to fly fish at the age of twelve in Midcity, where his studio remains today. “People always tripped out, they weren’t used to seeing a twelve year old kid fly fishing in a public park,” Tsuno said.
Tsuno alway fishes with his cap adorned with images of fish. He has been fishing the Los Angeles River for years and has developed a deep appreciation for an area of the city most Angelinos have never experienced.
“I started fishing the river about ten years ago,” Tsuno said.
He was first drawn to the river by its forbidden allure.
“It was great because you weren’t supposed to fish there. We’d walk in to the outwash, and onto the slope of the concrete there, that was illegal. It’s got such a healthy population of carp. My friend and I used to go down there to fish. In a city that’s so big, so crowded, there’s so few places you can go that you really feel like you’re alone,”Tsuno said.
Aandrea Stang, Occidental’s Director of Arts, has supported Tsuno’s work for years and is excited to let him take advantage of the gallery space at Occidental. “His work doesn’t scream Los Angeles, it’s something more of a whisper,” Stang said.
“He just picked up the water concept and ran with it. He had a prior interest in it, but chose to use familiar materials, like spray paint, in an unfamiliar way. In a small department like ours, innovators like Devon are the kind of people we want to bring in,” Stang said.
The subtle, representational forms described by Stang are most prevalent in Tsuno’s prints. The 10,000 prints of “Watershed” are stored in hand-crafted crates. Each print is composed of two identical images of water, one printed on top of the other. The flat layers are slightly offset, creating an illusion of movement and depth which is characteristic of much of Tsuno’s work.
Each print is signed by Tsuno and in the place where a title might go, there are three symbols: the number 3.60″, which was the number of inches of rainfall in L.A. last year, the number 388,332,521 which is the population of Los Angeles, and the infinity symbol. Patrons are free to pick up and take home the prints, makingTsuno’s project never-ending and reflecting his desire for a piece of the Los Angeles River to go home with everyone that sees his work.
Tsuno desires to collaborate and share artwork in Los Angeles communities that have inspired his teaching efforts at multiple schools in Los Angeles County, including his recent project with Adjunct Professor Jocelyn Pedersen’s book arts class here at Occidental.
Tsuno provided artwork for the books, printed by Occidental students on Japanese and Indian paper, a trademark of his work. The book’s imagery consists of risograph prints of river scenery, stylized depictions of carp and representational forms of water, similar to the patterns lining the wall paper of the gallery space.
“It was a lucky coincidence,” Pedersen said of Tsuno’s interest in water prior to his involvement with Occidental. “We brought Devon in because of his willingness to try new things and step out of his comfort zone,” Stang said.
By exploring new mediums in this show, Tsuno displays an appreciation for artistic transformation. All of his art, with its drastic forms and layered chaos, is transformative in nature, relating to to Tsuno’s ever-changing muse, the Los Angeles River.
“[The river is]especially apparent during heavy rain like we’re having today. The river transforms with heavy rain. Sand bars change, vegetation is ripped up, and all kinds of debris builds up. It really transforms the river, and that’s something, as a fisherman, I’ve got to pay attention to,” Tsuno said.
Tsuno admires the unappreciated Los Angeles watersheds, from which he has fished in Griffith Park to Pacoima and San Gabriel. The intimacy of his relationship with the watersheds of Los Angeles shines through in his recent work. It is that admiration for the grittier aspects of this city that he wants to share with his fellow Angelenos.
Stranded in space, a scientist must scrape together means to survive from destroyed, orbiting satellite scraps. Kidnapped from his family and forced into slavery, a man struggles to regain his freedom. Thesetwo tales of survival battled for Best Picture at the 86th Academy Awards on March 2. “12 Years A Slave” won Best Picture while Alfonso Cuaron took home best director for “Gravity” in a night of tears, surprises and selfies.
“Gravity” led the pack in terms of numbers, taking home seven statues. The juggernaut dominated the technical categories, winning five of the six awards for which it was nominated. Cuaron made history as the first Hispanic to ever win the Best Director Academy Award.
Making similar history was Steve McQueen, the first black filmmaker to win Best Picture. Solomon Northup, the protagonist of the extraordinary true story of “12 Years A Slave,” was honored in the speeches of each of the film’s three wins. As well as Best Picture, Jon Ridely was awarded Best Screenplay and Lupita Nyong’o won Best Supporting Actress for her visceral portrayal of Patsy, a tortured slave whose master has taken a particular liking to her. A roar of applause spread through the audience as her win was announced, prompting a standing ovation from her peers. The exuberant Nyong’o thanked her character, aware of the serious matter that has given her such success.
“It does not for one moment escape my attention that so much joy in my life has come from so much pain in someone else’s,” Nyong’o said in her speech.
Similarly aware of the hardships that brought their victories were some of the winners from “Dallas Buyers Club.” The movie tells the story of homophobic electrician Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) who, having been diagnosed with AIDS, is forced to team up with transgender Rayon (Jared Leto) to become a leading provider of a black market treatment for the disease. McConaughey and Leto won Best Actor and Supporting Actor, respectively, completing McConaughey’s career resurgence of the last two years and breaking Leto’s musician/heartthrob image.
Cate Blanchett won Best Actress for her role in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine,” bringing her steamrolled campaign from the rest of the awards season to its logical conclusion.
The alternative love story, “Her,” was the surprise winner of Best Original Screenplay, prompting Spike Jonze to give a suitably off-the-wall acceptance speech to his invisible friends who accompanied him to the stage. The win blocked the all-star “American Hustle” from winning a single award despite its 0 nominations, including nods in each acting category.
Hosted with efficiency by Ellen Degeneres, the ceremony itself was safe and lighthearted in the wake of last year’s woefully offensive opening number from Seth MacFarlane, “We Saw Your Boobs.” Degeneres’ insistence on taking selfies throughout the night wore a little thin for some, but that did not stop the night from being one of gratitude and jubilance. Memorable moments included Alfonso Cuaron’s emotional dedication to his wife and Steve McQueen’s literal jump for joy following his acceptance speech for Best Picture. This year’s awards were dominated by minority players and by little films that could, causing audiences to wonder if this new found diversity is here to stay.
What if 80,000 people played a video game, and they all shared onecontroller? Recently a user on Twitch.com, a website where users can watch and stream their favorite video games online, created a channel opening up a community of cooperative play that has never been seen on this scale.
Roughly 16 days ago, an anonymous programmer known only by his or her Twitch username, “TwitchPlaysPokemon,” started a game on Twitch.tv in which viewers can not only watch but also collectively play the gameboy classic “Pokémon Red/Blue” as one character.
The programmer wrote a code in which every person who logs into Twitch can play the game by typing commands: A, B, start, up, down, left and right.
The result is chaos. Twitch users watch “Red” (the hero from “Pokémon Red/Blue”) stutter around, get stuck, get rid of important items, free Pokémon and fail to complete simple tasks. Everything is harder when the game receives almost 13 commands a second, but the victories are that much more satisfying.
The chaos reached a pinnacle as the game grew in popularity. In only a couple of days, Twitch Plays Pokémonexploded from around 10,000 players and a couple hundred thousand views to somewhere between 70,000 to 80,000 players.
Increased involvement led to the implementation of an anarchy/democracy system. The system allows players to be more organized in their efforts. Currently, the democracy mode comes into effect every hour and allows all the players to vote for their next move. The most popular input every 30 seconds is then implemented. However if enough people type “anarchy” then the mode will switch back to anarchy mode at the end of the 30 second period. In anarchy, every input is used in the order it was typed. The players may tip the scale between anarchy and democracy by simply typing “anarchy,” or “democracy.”
At press time, Red had beaten “Pokémon Red/Blue,” but this feat was not without setbacks. The spontaneity of Twitch Plays Pokémon can be devastating, as was demonstrated by the events that took place during what is now known as “Bloody Sunday.” On this fateful day, aggregate users forced Red to set free 12 of their Pokémon, including some of their starting Pokémon that have been with Red since the beginning. One that survived the traumatic day is now dubbed “Bird Jesus” (a level 69 Pidgeot.)
This Pidgeot is the messiah of the “Helix Fossil” religion, a religion that has spawned out of memes and Internet legend. In a time of need, Red should check the Helix fossil. Some claim all the successes in the game have stemmed from the object. Joke or not, the overwhelming numbers “praising the Helix” all over the Internet are unbelievable.
The effect this Twitch channel has on the gaming community is fascinating. Everyone plays a part in all the spontaneous successes and failures within the game. Nothing like this has ever been done and the programmer has distributed the code, making it possible to expand the genre of “Twitch plays” to other games.
TwitchPlaysPokémon has been infectious since the beginning. Gamers have been asking friends and loved ones about what is happening and are tuning in regularly to updates. Years from now, Mar. 1will be remembered as “Helix Day,” when the collective gamer society beat the elite four. Hopefully this kind of international cooperation can manifest itself in facets other than just video games. Regardless, Twitch Plays Pokémon is a unique start to a wonderful new world of co-operative play.
Depending on the track, Dr. Dog’s sound can span from baroque-pop, folk, soul or psychedelic rock. Since they began touring in 2002, the band has released six albums and developed a dedicated and cult-like following. The band’s most recent release, “B-Room”, came out inOctober of last year and offers a more synth-popvariation on the group’s otherwise folksy-rock aesthetic. Regardless of genre labels, audiences were dazzled by Dr. Dog when they headlined at a sold-out show at The Observatory in Santa Ana last Wednesday with openers Saint Rich and Moses Somney.
The Observatory is oddly situated amidst a long stretch of business parks in Santa Ana, about an hour in either direction from both Los Angeles and San Diego. The audience was comprised of about equal parts San Diegans, Angelinos and residents of Orange County. The San Diegans and Angelinos whodrove an hour to get to The Observatory were mainly super-fans, including a group of 30- or-so-year–old men belting lyrics throughout the night.
Moses Somney opened with his interesting brand of soulful acoustics. Twenty three-year-old Somney has recently risen to high acclaim in the L.A. indie-music scene, landing him LA Magazine’s new artist to watch last week. The second opening act, Saint Rich, are based in New York and New Jersey andhave a more ’80s rock sound. This combination led an audience member to yell, “You guys are like Springsteen” during Saint Rich’s set.
Dr. Dog mostly played songsfrom their last two albums, “B-Room” (2013) and “Be the Void” (2012) but also played a few tracks from “Shame Shame” (2010), including “Jackie Wants a Black Eye” and “Shadow People.”Vocalists Toby Leaman and Scott McKinnon (Tables and Taxi, respectively) sing lead on different tracks. Although both have soulful voices, Leaman’s lead vocals range a bit more on the bluesy side, while McKinnon’s vocals offer a distinct folk twang. Dr. Dog only stopped playing to get a breath in before their encore. Instead of pausing between tracks and amusing the audience with concert banter, they played either light piano or guitar riffs between each song. This variety made for a unique concert experience. The opening to each song was so different from the original recordings that band kept audience members on their toes throughout the entire show.
Most Orange County residents in attendance were local high school students who spent the majority of the concert honing their crowd surfing skills. McKinnon and Leaman started playing original tracks together in the eighthgrade, so perhaps playing to this crowd offered a bit of nostalgia. Audience members took to throwing their shoes to the stage throughout the performance as a gesture of admiration. It was clear that the energy of the crowd made its way into the band’s excellent performance.
Lobbyist Jack Burkman (Rep.) drafted a plan to deploy a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the National Football League (NFL). It is problematic enough that the government is once again trying to control an entity outside of its jurisdiction, but attempting to assert itself on the issue of gay rights within the NFL is heinous.
In the NFL it is swept under the rug when a player commits vehicular manslaughter, possesses illegal guns, obstructs justice in relation to a murder investigation, screams racial slurs at a concert or kills a number of dogs. But no team wants a gay person on the roster, according to many analysts and news sources. Apparently that is far too much drama for a team to handle.
Michael Sam, an All-American defensive lineman from the University of Missouri, made headlines on Feb. 10 by becoming the first openly gay player to declare for the NFL draft.
But now many question the likelihood of Sam being drafted because of his sexual orientation. His merits as a football player should not be judged by his personal life. Personal life is personal for a reason; how he lives his life will not and does not affect his performance between the lines.
An All-American football player should instead be evaluated based upon the accolades he earned during his collegiate career. However, with one statement made regarding his homosexuality, it is as though he cannot possibly play football at the professional level.
The list of actual illegalities the NFL has allowed its players to get away with and still continue to play far outweighs one man’s private life.
It should not matter if a person is gay, straight, black, white or frankly anything else. What should matter is how well a person catches, throws, tackles or runs. After all, it is a football team, not a reality show or popularity contest. Gay men can win games just as well as straight men.
If Sam had not come out, no one would question his ability to play football; he would likely be drafted just like everyone else and then come out after. It was incredibly brave of him to put his possible career on the line.
His courage brought a larger issue to the forefront: homophobia in sports. Now if he is not drafted, people will have good reason to think it is due to his sexuality rather than his skill set as an athlete. People have instead started talking and looking at the NFL in a justifiably hypocritical light.
Juliet Suess is a senior ECLS major. She can be reached at suess@oxy.edu or on Twitter @WklyJSuess.
I can remember my first breakup vividly. It had been a whirlwind relationship. We had met outside a concert one evening, and the attraction was there immediately. Just a few short months later, I was completely enamored. The time passed by in bliss. We would spend hours together, just the two of us, finding meaning in the most minute details of life and music (is there a difference?). Then, after a year or so, things began to grow strained. We had both changed too much, grown too far apart. While reflecting on the old times still held enjoyment, it did nothing to alter how I felt. It was then that I decided to stop regularly listening to Aiden.
I had first discovered them in eighth grade, having been handed a Victory Records compilation CD after a Green Day concert in Portland, Ore. Upon listening to “Die Romantic” and “The Last Sunrise,” I was hooked. I was drawn to the band’s blend of pop sensibilities with dark lyrics and imagery, thinking that it would vicariously transfer over to me and make me appear edgy and tragic in the eyes of my teenage peers. I wanted to be the height of antisocial cool, and Aiden seemed like the perfect stepping stone to reach that lofty level. That is, until they released their third record, “Conviction.”
The first time listening to that album was the beginning of the breakup. Gone were the hardcore and punk influences, replaced by the worst imitations of The Cure and Joy Division that sounded less like an innovation for Aiden and more of a sad, misguided attempt to mimic two legendary bands. The record might have been saved if the songs were catchier, but most suffered from weak hooks and even worse production. They created less of a wall of sound than a wall of indistinguishable noise that might have been made by instruments, but could just have easily been Mr. Magoo crashing into guitars and trying to find a melody out of the result. When the band did actually return to a more straightforward playing style, they also cut down their already somewhat limited subject matter as well. Even after seeing them play a fantastic live set one summer, I was done with them.
Since starting college, I haven’t listened to any new material from Aiden. I still sometimes put on their second major release, “Nightmare Anatomy,” but it is a bitter-sweet experience each time I do. Aiden was one of the bands that got me through some troubled times in my earlier years, both real issues and those dreamt up by my angsty teenage psyche, and it hurt when their new material held no meaning for me other than nostalgia. Fortunately I found new genres I had never even heard of, some that I still avidly listen to today.
“Breaking up” with a favorite band is never easy, but if you identify why you are drifting away from a particular group or artist, you can find a way to patch up as best you can the hole they left behind, and lessen the jolt of pain every time you see their name while scrolling through your music library. There are a few primary reasons for a break up, and most have fairly straightforward solutions. One of the most common causes of a musical split between artists and one of their fans is…
The Band Changes Their Sound and/or Direction Too Much
This may, arguably, be one of the primary reasons an artist or group will lose listeners over time. Innovation and avoiding stagnation are signs of a strong band, but if they go too far in a different direction or move too quickly, they increase the risk of alienating a portion of their audience. While it is never right to set limits on artists (within reason), the reception of new material needs to be a factor when entering the creative process, especially for established acts.
Luckily, this is one of the easier breakups to get over. With our nearly unlimited access to new music, finding a different band that is similar stylistically to your old favorite should not prove too taxing. Online resources that allow you to pinpoint a specific sound that you are looking for, such as iTunes Radio and Songza, are excellent when trying to discover new artists, and for those of us who still like to purchase CDs, checking which bands are thanked in the liner notes can give listeners a good idea of where to start on their search for a replacement. While not necessarily easy, at least it is not as hard when you realize…
The Band Keeps Releasing the Same Song or Album Over and Over Again
This problem can also be called AC/DC syndrome. Yes, they have recorded some classic works that will always be a hallmark of hard rock history, but almost no one outside of the hardcore fans can name more than a couple albums other than “Back in Black” or “Highway to Hell,” and even fewer know other songs other than the singles, because Angus Young and company have been essentially releasing the same album repeatedly since “High Voltage,” distinguishable only by a change in lead singer (rest in peace, Bon Scott). Yes, it can be incredibly difficult to follow up a successful and/or innovative album, but the vast majority of the time trying to repeat past works will not prove fruitful. Green Day, Mumford and Sons – even pop culture titans such as Jay Z are guilty of this (some more than others, “American Gangster” is fantastic and can hold its own against the classic “pre-retirement” albums).
Realizing that a band is doing the same thing over and over can be difficult to overcome. On one hand, they are still playing the same type of music we enjoy, but on the other, we hold them to a high standard and expect better of them. Finding the sound you are looking for in this instance can prove challenging, but not impossible. Again, looking to an artist’s contemporaries and influences is the way to go, though it may take a bit more research than merely typing a genre or artist into a music service’s search engine. Try to find similar bands who successfully grew as musicians from one album to another, check out older acts that inspired today’s young guns or listen to a band or genre that overlaps somewhat with your old flame, but is distinct enough to be a refreshing change of sonic scenery. At least there is an immediate solution to a lack of growth in a band. There is one cause of a breakup that might be the most difficult to get over, and that is…
You Grow Up
Allow me to explain this simple statement. Until my senior year of high school, I refused to listen to anything other than punk, metal, hard rock, some alternative rock and rap. However, as time wore on, I found myself humming along to Top 40 radio, even outright enjoying some of the music. Fifteen-year-old me would have been ashamed of his counterpart three years his senior, blasting Jay Sean on the way to school. At the same time, long-time favorites like Iron Maiden and Slipknot popped up less and less on my playlists, to the point where I almost stopped listening to them entirely. I had grown up considerably in my tastes, but something was lost as well. Yes, I still enjoy Maiden and I think I always will, but I cannot enjoy them the same way, just as I do not seek out new bands akin to Killswitch Engage or A Day To Remember, even if I still check out their new releases. They become old friends that remind me of good times and maybe recorded a catchy song here and there, but other than a few exceptions do not move me as they used to.
This is the most difficult breakup, because the fault is with you – the listener – and not the band. There is nothing you could have done to stop the change other than to refuse to listen to anything new, and then you are simply punishing yourself for something that usually happens naturally. People’s tastes do not remain stationary, especially in music. It sounds cliche, but as we get older, some songs and artists simply become harder to listen to, or their words and music lose the magic that captured our ears in the first place. This is not limited to music either: the same pattern can be found in movies, books, television – even friendships and relationships with family members. Sometimes, growing up means growing apart, and the things we used to love seem diminished. Much like Stan Marsh in South Park’s “You’re Getting Old,” things just look and sound like turds (you can see what I mean here).
I have no ready solution for this condition, other than to keep trying new artists and genres. Maybe it will work right away, maybe it won’t. Not a huge ray of sunshine, I know, but it is the best advice I have. I won’t patronize or try to soften the blow by saying, “A person can always find a new artist to love,” because not everyone needs to hear that, and it might not always be true. Breaking up with a favorite band, like with people, is rarely easy, and ultimately we have to deal with it in our own ways. Just try not to be too cynical about it.
Jack Butcher is a senior history major. He can be reached at butcher@oxy.edu or on Twitter @WklyJButcher.
In case you didn’t notice this weekend, it rained in Los Angeles. A lot.
As an Oregonian I normally make fun of the local’s reaction to rain – with some help from Jimmy Kimmel – but this weekend was different.
Relentless showers hit the city starting on Friday, interspersed with flash floods, thunder and lightening. Power sources were knocked out, Internet services went down (which, on a personal note, delayed my “House of Cards” binge-watching) and roads and freeways became even more terrifying than normal.
Despite the mayhem, the rain has brought slight relief to the parched ground during a drought that could be the worst the state has seen in 500 years.
When a flash flood starts in a drought stricken region, the parched ground is unable to hold the massive amount of rain that hits it. The rain is then diverted as “runoff,” which is diverted to the irrigation infrastructure of the area. The heavy development of Los Angeles land makes the absorption of water even less likely, and the concrete further increases the diversion of rain water into the irrigation systems of the city.
There is an effect of the rain this weekend that is alarming. Since Los Angeles is a “concrete jungle,” rain could bring slick consequences for marine life off the coast. The massive runoff seen this weekend created faux-rivers that led to drain pipes, all ultimately finding their end at the ocean. Gasoline and oil from cars rests on the pavement of the city, accumulating in mass amounts, especially when rain has been scarce and hasn’t cleared the roadways of oil. This slick can slow braking responses of cars, but also, more alarmingly, becomes swept off in the runoff that funnels straight to the Pacific Ocean. This runoff has been sending oil, gas and other pollutants into the marine communities off the coast.
Excess gasoline funneling into the oceans is no joke. The effect on the ecosystem can be incredibly detrimental, resulting in contaminated marine life, decreased water quality and less productive ecosystems.
Next time you’re driving your car, just think about all those pollutants that are bound to ruin the lives of innocent fish. Watch yourself.
Jill Goatcher is a senior politics major and marine biology minor. She can be reached at goatcher@oxy.edu or on Twitter @WklyJGoatcher.
Tim O’Donnell is a junior history major from Bethesda, Md. entering his second year at the Weekly. He started last year as a sports writer and is now one of the editors of the sports section. Aside from covering sports for the Weekly and studying history, Tim enjoys reading, traveling, and watching HBO shows. He is a die-hard Baltimore Orioles fan and is struggling with the fact that they have finally achieved success after 14 years of futility now that he has moved across the country. @WklyTODonnell
Spencer Donaldson is a senior English Major from San Francisco, Calif. in his second year with the Weekly. He is a diehard and superstitious fan of the Giants, 49ers and Warriors. Spencer also plays piano, sings, and watches cooking or nature shows in his spare time. @WklySDonaldson
