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The secret art of the perfect playlist

By
Jack Butcher
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I might be dating myself a bit with this question, but remember the days of making mix CDs for your friends and, more likely, your crushes? Finding the perfect collection of songs, praying iTunes will actually burn all of them onto the disk and coming up with a witty title and “album cover” for your creation? Playlist-making technology might have moved on and while I have moved on with it, I still have a certain nostalgia for those days in middle and high school where CDs were swapped in the halls after class between myself and the other musically inclined loners. In the pre-Spotify days, this was how we ensured that everyone was up-to-date on the latest releases, and to feed our own egos for having discovered an artist before our friends. It was a glorious time.

Then, the popularity of Pandora exploded, and nothing was the same. The days of burning CDs as the preferred method of exchanging music passed into the annals of history overnight, replaced by radio stations built on thumb-ups and downs, pre-built set lists for any mood and an even more widespread access to downloading and sharing new music through less-than-legal channels online. The fall of the mix CD came not with a loud crash, but rather a dull thud.

This is not to knock all the new opportunities listeners have for discovering and sharing artists and songs or the true believers who still load discs covered in Sharpie scribbles into their car’s CD player (yes, these brave souls are still around). Programs like iTunes Radio are fantastic ways to hear both popular and obscure work, and Songza’s option to find playlists based on moods, activities and times in the day is genius. Yet some of the personal aspect is missing from these options. The listener can dictate to an extent what they want to hear on Pandora, but ultimately there is only limited choice – filtered down to giving a thumb’s up or skipping the track – and only a limited number of times. Songza allows for some customization in their playlists but not, according to their website, for the creator’s “own personal use.” You can share with friends and family, but must pass through an editorial team to be included in the Concierge service or library.

In the end, as enjoyable as Songza might be, it is essentially akin to pressing shuffle on a playlist where you cannot even see what all you will be experiencing ahead of time. Spotify addresses these issues somewhat by allowing users to share playlists with their friends, but how personal is a set of songs if advertisements are interjected every few songs, or if you are being told what to listen to everytime you load up the homepage?

To clarify: I am not suggesting we regress back to the early 2000s in terms of music, but every once and awhile we should set aside the multitude of programs, deactivate shuffle and create a set of songs and listen start to finish, whether for our own personal enjoyment or others.

However, crafting the perfect playlist is not an easy feat. There is an art to putting together the exact right collection of tunes. Much like cooking, the best playlists are not random collections of ingredients tossed together in no particular order, but carefully planned so that the songs compliment each other, flowing together to make the listening experience as intriguing as possible.

As a great man once wrote, “The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem…There are a lot of rules.”

While there are many do’s and don’t’s in creating a mix, I will break down three of the essential ones to keep in mind.

The first and most important rule is to know who you are creating the mix for. Sharing a playlist of Killswitch Engage, Slipknot, In Flames and the like to someone who’s top five artists are Colbie Caillat, Jack Johnson, U2, The Lumineers and Morrissey will probably end in passive aggressive words and a loss of trust that could take years to rebuild. As much as I think the entire world should listen to Coheed and Cambria, science-fiction-metal-and-punk-influenced-progressive-rock is not for everyone. Go figure.


Be aware and accepting of your friend’s tastes, and play to what you know they will enjoy, coupled with new tracks within their area of interest.

That being said, it is also important to follow rule number two: do not put a specific request as the first song in the set. If you give the listener exactly what they want right away, odds are they might not listen to the rest of your collection as closely. Much as performers rarely start a live set with their absolute biggest or current hit, you want to build anticipation for the best song in the mix. Placing it right before the halfway mark is a good, safe decision to maximize enjoyability and excitement. The best way to begin the mix then is to lead with the second-best song, or at least a very catchy one, in order to grab the listener’s attention immediately.

Next, up the intensity a bit, but don’t use up all your energy in the first handful of songs. The best playlists should rise and fall in a natural progression. Even a set of all ’80s and ’90s hard rock can be broken up by the occasional ballad.


Or two. There’s no shame in that.

However, there should be a natural flow from one song to the next without necessarily limiting the range of genres and styles present. While it is completely acceptable to have mid-career Bruce Springsteen and Dog Blood in the same playlist, you probably don’t want to skip from “Working On The Highway” to the latter’s remix of “Wild For The Night.”

Instead, you should progress from one to the other in five simple steps. The first goal should be to move from the ’80s to more recent work while still retaining part of the E Street sound and style. Bands like The Gaslight Anthem or certain Arcade Fire tracks would work well in this situation.


Next, you would want to start heading into a more electronic sound while keeping in the alternative rock genre. MGMT is a prime example and a great lead-in to a remix of a well-known song.



Lastly, to prep your listeners for a bit more bite. You would want to include an artist with a good blend of melody and edge. SirensCeol, Dada Life and pre-”Clarity” Zedd are perfect options.



Now your listeners are ready for the last step in the journey without being jarred by an extreme shift in tone. Not only have they been subliminally prepared for the next song, but you have the opportunity to take them on a sonic adventure through a diverse musical landscape.

The key is recognizing what ties songs and artists together, whether it’s genre, decade, instrumental style or even having the same beats per minute. Incorporating as wide a range as your listener’s preferences allows for makes for a more engaging, dynamic playlist. Unless specifically instructed, never feel as if you should have limitations on what goes into your mix.

While there are many more rules, and many layers within those to dissect, these three are the most essential. It takes time to make a playlist as perfect as possible, but it becomes much easier with practice. While we might not return to the days of passing around discs in clear plastic cases, bringing back a more personal touch to mixes is well within our reach. I, for one, would be more than happy to make a playlist for or receive a mix from someone, and who knows? Maybe I’ll even burn it on a CD.

Jack Butcher is a senior history major. He can be reached at butcher@oxy.edu or on Twitter @WklyJButcher.

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'Just keep swimming:' Adapting to the changing tides of ocean conservation

By
Jill Goatcher
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As a species, the human race is more intertwined with the marine environment than we can imagine. We come from the ocean. We depend on the ocean. But collectively we treat the ocean like a massive, expendable waste pit.

Nuclear waste in Japan continues to leak into the Pacific Ocean as the Tokyo Electric Power Company struggles with how to contain it. The blatant disregard for safety measures practiced by British Petroleum in 2010 resulted in the spewing of 206 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for three harrowing months. Even now, four years later, the oil spill has created spots of the gulf that are anoxic– parts of the ocean that have no oxygen, that literally cannot sustain life. Commercial fishing vessels scrape the environment off of the ocean floor with nets, keeping the fish that will be sold for a high sum and tossing millions of dead animals over the edge of boats every year because they have no commercial value.

These atrocious acts are leading to ocean environmental degradation that we cannot study fast enough.

This past summer, I attended the annual Capitol Hill Ocean Week conference in Washington D.C. as a representative for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I sat among the brightest marine biologists, climatologists, legislative staffers and agency representatives in hard white chairs in the newly-built Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue. To the left of the podium were floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a sweeping view of the Capitol building. As I sat there, taking in the view and my company, the speaker presented the emerging issues of trade route jurisdiction in the Article Circle. Countries were taking advantage of the permafrost and ice melt as a new trade route.

A statement the presenter made sticks in my mind. The facilitator opened a piece of paper that had a question from the audience and read from the small white square.

“What can we, as a community of experts, do to prevent the melting of sea ice and slow global warming?” he said.

The speaker looked down at the podium, then swung his eyes up to scan the audience.

“There is nothing we can do to stop it. All that we can do is adapt,” he said, unsmiling and weighted.

To adapt takes knowledge of how the ocean environment works. To adapt takes a commitment to be aware of governmental and corporate actions that move to further threaten our oceans. To adapt is to share knowledge of the wonder and uniqueness of the environment that covers most of our earth.

Our home is a blue planet. Our economies and security as a human race depend on the ocean. Raising awareness of the destruction that the human race has systematically carried out is critical.

Jacques Cousteau, the enigmatic pioneer of scuba diving and my personal hero, had a beloved television show in the late 1990s that exposed the world to the underwater wonders explored by him and his team. His series started out lighthearted, showing the team discovering shipwrecks and playing with dolphins. Towards the end of his career, Jacques became alarmed at the rapid deterioration of the oceans that he had observed just in his lifetime. He began to use his series as a platform to show the world just how much the ocean was in danger as a result of our actions, of our ignorance.

His show was cancelled within a year. Nobody wanted to watch the destruction of the oceans.

We must adapt. We must change this paradigm. We must learn of issues that are happening and we must live our lives as conscious individuals that do not allow governments and corporations to lay waste to our planet.

A small way that I hope to adapt is through this blog. Occidental College is a critically thinking, socially conscious community, and these traits will follow us as we enter the world. I hope to inspire and inform our community every “Fin-tastic” Monday, because I feel that it is important. I feel that the Occidental community has the skills to adapt.

As a teaching assistant for Marine Biology, I was blown away each semester by how much enthusiasm students showed for how a sea star uses hydraulics to move, or how sharks use electrical currents to feed and navigate. The students of Occidental inspired me; they gave me hope that our generation has the ability to adapt and work toward ending the destruction of our world’s oceans.

Thank you for your readership, for letting me guide you through dolphins getting high and coral reef ecology. I will be writing every week to inform our community of the quirky and incredible processes that occur under the sea, and what we can do to preserve them.

Jill Goatcher is a senior politics major and marine biology minor. She can be reached at goatcher@oxy.edu or on Twitter @WklyJGoatcher.

 

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Backdoor Science – S2 EP3

By
Ella Fornari
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https://soundcloud.com/the-occidental-weekly/backdoor-science-s2-ep3
Backdoor Science explores the scientific world and updates the Occidental community on all of its happenings. Each week we will bring you engaging stories behind scientific history and current events.

Backdoor Science is Chris Discolo, Nick Thomas, Elya Shamskhou and Griffin Mead.

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'Kill la Kill' mid-season review: clothes make the woman

By
Mike Cosimano
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I was initially going to write about the new “House of Cards” season this week. But the more I ruminate on Frank Underwood’s ascent to power, I realize how little I have to say about it at the moment. I have to let that ponderous, baffling show find its proper space in my cranium before I can appropriately criticize it.

So instead, how about we discuss “Kill la Kill,” a Japanese anime show best described as the love child of “Zoolander” and “Dragonball Z?”

I must warn you, “Kill la Kill” is a guilty pleasure. The guiltiest of pleasures. It’s absurd, vulgar and nonsensical to a worrying degree. This show came about because its creators noted how similar “fashion” and “fascism” sounded in Japanese. I’m going to try to find some meaning in it, but I do not blame you if you cannot do the same.

“Kill la Kill” is the story of Ryuko Matoi, a 17-year-old drifter whose search for her father’s killer has brought her to the enigmatic Honnouji Academy: a school ruled by the unflappable Student Council President Satsuki Kiryuin and her powerful henchmen, known as the Elite Four. Satsuki definitely knows something about Ryuko’s dad, but she isn’t telling. Doesn’t sound too crazy so far, right?

I’m going to need you to bear with me for the next four paragraphs.

The school is actually a way for Kiryuin to find the strongest high schoolers and equip them with ultra-powerful Goku Uniforms (outfits that increase the abilities of the user) in the hopes of creating an army and conquering every high school in Japan.

These Goku Uniforms are powered by special, yet dangerous threads known as Life Fibers. One-Star Goku Uniforms are 10 percent Life Fibers, Two-Star are 20 percent and so on. The higher the percentage, the more powerful you must be in order to control your uniform.

Look, I’m going to have to chuck some other nonsense at you if we’re ever going to get through this. Satsuki is the heiress to the nefarious REVOCS corporation. There’s an underground organization called Nudist Beach (seriously) that opposes REVOCS. Ryuko has a sentient uniform made of 100 percent Life Fiber named Senketsu and a Scissor Blade that can cut Life Fibers. When Ryuko nicks herself and releases a single drop of blood, Senketsu can transform into an advanced form that gives Ryuko power beyond any Goku Uniform.

It also leaves her almost entirely naked, which is where “Kill la Kill” will lose most people. The heroine of the show is just about everything people want from strong female characters. She’s witty, cool, gets to do awesome stuff and currently has no romantic interest. But she also does her fighting in what could very charitably be described as a “revealing” outfit.

This is somewhat addressed within the show itself, in all fairness. Episode three is about Ryuko letting go of her shame, which gives her even more power. Around episode eight, the guys start getting naked as well and “Kill la Kill” somewhat changes the focus of its fan service. This doesn’t help much, because objectifying women is not even in the same league as objectifying men. Also, every time Ryuko transforms, there’s not really much left to the imagination.

There has been some debate as to whether “Kill la Kill” is merely objectifying its female characters or wants to make some kind of statement about clothing and self-image. It really comes down to what kind of person you are. Do you over-analyze things, looking for meaning in every line of dialogue? Or do you just want to see rad swordfights?

I’m in the former camp, so I see “Kill la Kill” as a show with very heavy-handed symbolism. REVOCS is Mugatu in all but name; the establishment viewed through the lens of Japanese fashonistas. By going almost-naked and literally fighting the evil clothes from the big company, Ryuko is fighting “The Man” with her “Individuality.” Even Nudist Beach has loads of clothes-based symbolism.

Maybe that’s just me and my tendency to analyze. It’s obvious “Kill la Kill” thinks sex and nudity is funny, even if you think there’s some chin-stroking behind all the guffaws. But, if women pushing their rumps in front of the camera disgusts you, the first three “Kill la Kill” episodes are going to be somewhat painful to sit through. It does get much better, that much I can say. By episode 18 (the most recent, as of Friday), the camera’s gaze is not quite as lecherous.

However, know that if you give up early, you’re missing out on some appointment television, the likes of which I haven’t seen from a Western show in years.

Each episode feels like a season finale, especially last week’s. By the time you read this, episode 19 will have been released, and I legitimately have no idea what the team at Studio Trigger are going to do. Episode 18 started with a mind-blowing deck shuffle that changed everything we thought we knew, only to top itself four times with moments that a lesser show would frame a multi-episode arc around.

The fights are ridiculously imaginative, each making excellent use of the fighters’ respective abilities and the surrounding area. Even during the weaker episodes, I never left a “Kill la Kill” fight disappointed.

Episode eight is definitely where things get amazing, with a distinct lack of the cheesecake that otherwise dominates the series. It explores the characters in some pretty fun ways and sets the stage for the show’s explosive tone going forward. The preceding episodes are not “bad” (with the exception of the abysmal episode seven), but if you have absolutely no time and haven’t been fully engaged by episode four, I wouldn’t blame you if you skipped ahead.

A good episodic story has two things: advancement of some previous thread (be it character or plot) and some hook for the following episode. “Kill la Kill” has utterly mastered both aspects. It fills its over-the-top world to the brim with interesting characters, giving the audience a reason to care about the proceedings as said characters beat the living tar out of each other.

Look, “Kill la Kill” is straight up ridiculous, even if you labor under the impression that something clever is going on behind the curtain. But it’s also some fine TV. Even if you’re not a big fan of anime like myself, it’s definitely worth a look.

“Kill la Kill” ends in 5 weeks. I will revisit it then.

Mike Cosimano is a first-year psychology major. He can be reached at cosimanowhite@oxy.edu or on Twitter @WklyMCosimano.


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Mayor Garcetti takes the stage at Keck for interview

By
Keegan McChesney
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A conversation with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne took place last Thursday in Keck Theater. The conversation ranged from issues of the urban environment to the soul of the city, with a musical interlude taking place halfway through the presentation.

“We are lucky to have a mayor who combines the improvisational skills of a jazz pianist, the leadership skills of a naval reserve officer and the intellectual curiosity of a Rhode Scholar; and he was all three of those things,” President Jonathan Veitch said in an opening address to the audience before yielding the floor to Hawthorne.

Hawthorne outlined his intentions before diving into the conversation, noting his desire to facilitate a public conversation and gain Garcetti’s honest perspective on architecture, urban planning, the public realm and the future of L.A.

An introductory slide show on the urban environment of L.A. led into Hawthorne’s first question. After describing L.A.’s ongoing transition from privatized urbanism to a new interconnectedness, Hawthorne asked about Angelenos’s apparent enthusiasm for this change.

“I think Los Angeles has always been a very porous city, philosophically as well as demographically,” Garcetti, a former professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs at Occidental, said, “and we should think about ideas of moving the city forward in that way.”

Hawthorne, his intellectual counterpart for the evening, also has ties to the college. Hawthorne currently teaches a Los Angeles architecture course in the Urban and Environmental Policy department.

The mayor spoke on a wide variety of issues and successes, of problems and goals. He noted some of his accomplishments as city councilman, as well as his general strategy in City Hall.

Recurring themes in the conversation included social justice, sustainability, transportation, public space, economics, policy, L.A. history, planning,specific neighborhoods, L.A. River, political power and the built environment. In keeping with the theme of the conversation, the mayor continually spoke of the importance of focusing on improving quality of life before designing the aesthetic features of architectural projects.

A musical interlude paused the conversation temporarily. Composer and song-writer Gabrielle Fahane, a native Angelino, took to the stage to perform. The songs he performed off of his soon to be released album relate to the built environment and architecture of Los Angeles.

His first song, performed on guitar, was about the now-closed Ambassador Hotel, designed by Byron Hunt, the architect who designed most of the Occidental campus. The second song, performed on piano along with an iPad-provided background beat, was about why Hollywood villains tend to live in Modernist houses.

The conversation then continued and Garcetti took questions compiled by Hawthorne’s Occidental students and adjunct instructor of Urban and Environmental Policy Mark Vallianatos.

The discussion came to a close with a final discussion on a mission for Los Angeles.

“We become folks that listen and actually hear the city around us,” Garcetti said. “We look at the differences between each one of these nodes that we call neighborhoods and figure out ways to connect them in strong, innovative, new manors. But also, at the end of the day, realize the city breathes around us. It requires us to write history, not to rewrite history, not to predict history, but to do something in between which requires patience, it requires good listening, it requires bold moves in unique moments, but not shouting all the time.”

Reaction to the meeting from members of the Occidental community was positive.

“Eric combines a visionary with a pragmatist,” Urban and Environmental Policy Professor Peter Dreier, who was mentioned by both the mayor and Hawthorne throughout the conversation, said. “He understands the big picture and urban planning, as a politician and as a native resident; he understands every inch of this huge city.”

 

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Holy cow! McDonald's in India?

By
Ben Poor
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Despite popular opinion, McDonald’s Quarter Pounder is not called a Royale with Cheese in Paris. I’m sorry to tell you that, readers – when I first read that fact, it hurt my heart more than than a McRoyale Deluxe ever could.

I learned this as part of my background research before I went to the Goliath of Globalization itself, McDonald’s (yeah, I do background research for this blog). How could a company primarily known for it’s “two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – on a sesame seed bun” succeed in the land of the holy cow?

I’m not alone in wondering this – many academics have researched this phenomenon. While the articles are interesting, I learned everything I needed to know about Indian McD’s from my Indian friend, Joseph.

“India is a young nation, and with the rise of the IT field, we’re a lot of young people with disposable income,” Joseph told me (I should mention he’s a PhD student studying globalization). “There’s a desire to appear cosmopolitan among many young people, and even for those who have been vegetarian their whole lives, that means eating at McD’s.”

What Joseph says is all true – 65 percent of the population is under 35 years old, and by and large, those are the people eating out.

They were certainly the people crowding the counter at the McDonald’s inside Hyderabad’s Inorbit Mall when I went to investigate (or investig-eat). Young urban professionals were packed around the McD’s cashiers, the only noticeably cluster of people in the upscale mall’s food court. Furthermore, literally everyone at the 30+ tables in front of McDonald’s had trays with the Golden Arches – as in America, people who order McD’s don’t like to move far.

The answer to the cow question was resolved quickly – as you might have guessed, there’s no beef on the menu. Chicken is still popular, but the range of vegetarian options is the biggest difference from the McD’s you know and love (/go to when you’re drunk). High in popularity is the McAloo Tikki Sandwich, a patty made from potatoes, peas and homegrown Indian spices. Behind the cashier, I observed, there were two distinct areas, where vegetarian and non-vegetarian options were transferred from the back kitchen to the counter.

My experience at the counter was very similar to one in America – I spoke to a cashier with close to excellent English proficiency, who successfully encouraged me to make my McAloo Tikki Sandwich a meal. I also ordered a McChicken Sandwich and a McFlurry, to get a direct comparison with what I’m familiar with at home.

Friends, if you find yourself homesick in India, let me tell you – somehow, they have perfectly exported the taste of the McChicken. It tastes exactly like what you’d find down on York Boulevard. The McAloo Tikki Sandwich was delicious as well – if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

In summary, I’d say McDonald’s has succeeded by blending their corporate identity with that of the Indian population. Just like the oreos and ice cream in my McFlurry, the traditional McDonalds culture is mixed with Indian dietary norms to create a product that is neither fully one nor the other. This is the effect globalization has on the world – and just like my McFlurry, taking it in too fast can leave you with a painful headache.

However, for the majority of the Indians at Inorbit Mall, they were more focused on the sweet deliciousness of their meals. Next, I’ll have to take my investigeative spirit my mother’s second least favorite restaurant – KFC.

Ben Poor is a junior American Studies major studying abroad in Hyderabad, India during the Spring 2014 Semester. He can be reached at benpoor1@gmail.com or on Twitter @WklyBPoor.

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Grahams channel sibling rivalry, bring competitiveness to Tiger Hoops

By
Lauren Rewers
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It would take a second glance for a spectator of Occidental women’s basketball to notice the strange resemblance between two of the new additions to this season’s team. Biology major Eda Graham (junior) and sociology major Haley Graham (first-year) play entirely different positions — the former a slasher-type forward and the latter a shooting guard — in addition to having opposite personalities.

And yet there is something about the way they run, their similar playing style and their lanky body types that gives them away.

As it turns out, the pair is sisters both matriculated to the college this year — Haley from Ventura High School, and Eda from Ventura College.

“It’s really funny how similar they are and how different they are at the same time,” Tiger head coach Anahit Aladzhanyan ‘07 said. “They couldn’t be any more different personality-wise, but there are little tendencies. Haley is very straightforward, cut-and-dried and more social. Eda is very intelligent; social as well, but it’s different.”

Aladzhanyan approached Haley as a senior in high school after she saw her play at a club tournament in Los Angeles and tried to recruit her for almost a year.

“Coach Heat [Aladzhanyan] basically harassed me until I agreed to come on a visit,” Haley said.

Through getting to know Haley, Aladzhanyan became aware that she had an older sister who also played basketball and was applying to four-year colleges. Eda, who had not known of Occidental before Haley became interested, reached out to her future coach, who then watched her play in a tournament in Glendale. Both girls were accepted last spring, and the rest is history.

Still, the decision to spend two years together at a school of barely over 2,000 students was a weighty one for the lifelong comrades and competitors.

“When I first realized it was going to happen I wasn’t thrilled about it,” Haley said. “I wanted my freedom. But we never see each other, really, except for practice. I would actually say it’s helped our relationship because we have space from each other, but we’re always there to have each other’s back.”

For her sister, it was a bonus from the start.

“I was excited; really, really excited,” Eda said. “It was a new chapter in my life that I hadn’t had before. Plus, it’s like you’re going to a new school with your family member, which automatically brings a level of comfort.”

Both sisters cite their father, Richard Graham, as their basketball mentor. He played basketball both in high school and when he attended Ventura College.

The Grahams started playing in local youth leagues during elementary school, joining club teams a few years later and eventually playing for the same high school. But since Haley is two years younger and was on the junior varsity team when Eda played varsity, the two never played on the same squad together before coming to Occidental. If they had, the results may have been tense.

According to the sisters, they had a competitive relationship with basketball in their younger days. Rarely did they play one-on-one together.

“I think we were equally each other’s bosses,” Eda said. “Growing up, she was always a lot smaller than I was. I had authority just by sheer size. She used her words more. We butted heads a lot.”

According to Tiger captain Michelle Naito-Lo (senior), however, the Grahams’ relationship has changed throughout the season.

“At the beginning of the year, they were kind of distancing themselves from each other,” Naito-Lo said. “But as the season has progressed, they have definitely leaned on each other to help support them through our really long season.”

In fact, Eda is looking forward to playing with her sister on the court more often next year.

“Both of us being at a point where we are in our lives, I think this is the best possible time to have the best possible experience together,” Eda said.

On this, the sisters agree.

“It’s really unique that you get to go to high school with your sister and then the same college,” Haley said. “I think that most people would say ‘No, I don’t want that, I want to do my own thing.’ It’s amazing how much it actually helps knowing she’s here, even if I don’t see her.”

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Pole vaulting coach Steben raises bar in three-decade career

By
Spencer Donaldson
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“You’re not a fish; it’s not a fishing pole,” Occidental pole vault coach Andy Steben ‘69 says to Lisa Matsukata (senior) immediately after she completes an unsatisfactory vault attempt. Throughout the same two-hour practice, Steben makes other pole vaulting analogies as well as statements with underlying life lessons like, “What seems to be the problem isn’t the problem,” and “I don’t want to know what you tried; I want to know what you did.”

Steben’s 34-year coaching career all started with one phone call from former track and field coach Bill Harvey ‘67.

“I came over and coached a few kids at Oxy once in awhile, just on a one-on-one basis if they asked me to,” Steben said. “I was pretty much busy with my high school [coaching] career until Bill called me.”

Since then, Steben has coached every female pole vaulter who has attended the college. The exclusive list includes Occidental record holder and All-American Kera Bartlett ‘09 and All-American Marisa Omori ‘03.

Steben has also coached elite male competitors such as 1983 Division-III champion, eight-time All-American Doug Porter ‘85 and current Occidental pole vault record holder and three-time All-American Gunnar Miller ‘94.

As a student-athlete at Occidental, Steben vaulted in three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships, three Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Championships, placed fifth in the 1968 Olympic trials and became a three-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) champion.

Steben’s pole vaulting career started when he was in sixth grade. His father, Ralph E. Steben, was a well-known track and field coach in the Midwest who led the Bloom Township High School track and field team of Chicago Heights, Ill. to five consecutive state titles.

Ironically, the one event that Steben’s father was not familiar with was the pole vault.

So Steben said his father decided to teach him and his brother, Dan Steben ‘71, to vault in order to become a better pole vault coach. He also recognized that his two sons — who tried to be hurdlers, sprinters, long jumpers and high jumpers — were not particularly fast or strong. And, according to Steben, his father thought that teaching his sons to vault could potentially earn them college scholarships.

“We were guinea pigs,” Steben said. “So we would watch a lot of film loops with him and just discuss what we were seeing. My dad’s concept of putting us in that event, with an implement to get over an object, really paid off.”

In fact, Steben believes that he would not have been accepted to Occidental if it were not for his vaulting talents. It took Steben time to acclimate academically in his first trimester at the college, but he began to improve in the trimesters to follow.

“The first third of the year I struggled because I had always just kind of cruised through high school. But then I got it,” Steben said.

As a physical education major (roughly the equivalent of a kinesiology major today), Steben was required to take education classes. Initially, teaching was secondary to his other interests, but his experience student-teaching at Wilson Junior High School in El Centro, Calif., exceeded his expectations and launched his career as a history teacher.

“Oxy was really good about if they let you in, they didn’t want you to fail,” Steben said. “I think I’ve had a pretty productive life and done a good job with my teaching career and my coaching career. And none of that would have happened the way it did if I hadn’t come here and been accepted. They lifted me up in a way.”

Steben continues to educate his high school and college athletes in the pole vault and in life, helping them lift themselves above both literal and figurative bars.

Matsukata has internalized Steben’s advice in both areas. Her pole vault career is a product of Steben’s dedication to teaching.

“I pole vaulted once in middle school, but then I quit because I didn’t really enjoy it,” Matsukata said. “Andy was very open to starting me from nothing.”

Steben has also given career advice to Matsukata, who is considering the field of education, just like her coach and mentor.

“He keeps telling me that something that really makes you good at teaching is actually coaching, and vice versa,” Matsukata said.

Early in his tenure as Occidental’s head track and field coach, Rob Bartlett observed the full magnitude of Steben’s dedication to teaching as he watched him from the stands. Bartlett said that he saw UCLA and USC coaches among the many who came to listen to Steben’s assessments of their athletes’ performances.

“It’s funny; I sometimes despair a little bit because we’ll be at a SCIAC meet and Andy ends up coaching everybody,” Bartlett said. “He’ll coach the people we’re trying to beat because he’s such a good guy, and he loves the vault so much, and he doesn’t have a selfish bone in his body. Whoever replaces him will not be able to fill his shoes. It’s that simple.”

 

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SCIAC 1 Leaves Room for Improvement for Men and Women's Golf

By
Michael Tonetti
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Both the men’s and women’s golf teams teed off their respective competitive seasons with the SCIAC #1 Tournament at Sierra Lakes Golf Course Fontana, Calif. over the weekend.

The women’s team finished fifth overall, while the men tied for seventh.

On the men’s side, Colton Bares (first-year) shot a 3-over 75 Friday and a career-low 4-under 68 Saturday in his first official SCIAC event.

“To be honest, after my 75 on Saturday I went home a little bit disappointed,” Bares said. “Normally, I would be satisfied with a 75, but I felt like I was hitting the ball so well. Fortunately, my ball striking carried over to Sunday.”

Fellow newcomer James Wronoski stepped for the Tigers as well, posting scores of 6-over 78 and 7-over 79.

“Having both Colton and James playing at a high level establishes what we are building here,” Occidental head coach Andrew Larkin said. “They add the base we need for this program going forward, and we plan not only to develop all of our current players, but add strong talent to this base.”

For the women, Kristin Oberiano (sophomore) registered an 8-over 80 and a 6-over 78. Close behind was captain Katie Park (senior), who supplemented Oberiano’s scores with an 11-over 83 and a 7-over 79.

“This tournament demonstrated that I have every shot I need to place in the top spots in the next SCIAC tournaments and gave me perspective on the aspects of my game that I need to work on,” Oberiano said. “I know we have the ability to succeed this year; we just need to believe in ourselves and make it happen.”

With two members on each squad tallying at least one sub-80 round in the tournament, Larkin is happy with his teams’ starts but sees room for improvement.

“Both teams need to continue to get better on the greens,” Larkin said. “We gave away a lot on the greens and could do more to save shots. We will get there, but need to continue to build to finish rounds.”

The women’s team is scheduled to compete in the Cal State San Marcos Invite on March 1-3. The men will have to wait a while longer, with over a month until their next competition at the West Cup from March 23-25.


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Sports in Brief Issue 2

By
Ryan Whalen
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Women’s Lacrosse (3-0 overall, 3-0 SCIAC)
The Occidental women’s lacrosse team has started off its 2014 campaign with clutch victories over three top league opponents. The Tigers took down rivals Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer, adding to their season-opening victory over Chapman and emerging as an early conference contender. Occidental matched up against defending SCIAC champion Redlands last Wednesday and pulled off a 15-12 comeback victory. Forwards Mackenzie Wright (sophomore) and Alida Beck (junior) led the offensive charge, netting four goals apiece. Although the black and orange defensive had trouble keeping Redlands off the board, the Tigers never let go of the lead after Beck’s go-ahead goal with 12:47 minutes left in the contest. Saturday’s game against the Sagehens also proved to be a nail-biter, as the Occidental squad required extra time to put the match away. The team asserted its versatility with scoring distribution, as six different players scored at least one goal apiece. Wright stole the show with the golden goal with under a minute remaining in overtime. Senior midfielder Rebecca Belding zipped a pass to Wright, who then rocketed a shot past the Sagehen goalie, giving Occidental an 8-7 victory. The Tigers return to action Saturday, hosting Whittier at 1 p.m.

Men’s Basketball (11-12 overall, 6-8 SCIAC)
The Occidental men’s basketball team split its pair of conference match-ups. In a 86-78 loss to Chapman last Wednesday, slasher Kris Montoya (senior) registered a team-high 22 points, while Juwan Rice (junior) added 18 to help pace the black and orange offensively. However, they were bested by the Panthers, who out-shot the Tigers by 7.7 percent from the field and pulled down 12 more rebounds. Despite the hard-fought loss, Occidental bounced back on Saturday’s senior night with a triple-overtime victory over Whittier, 88-83. Senior Ty Cobb — one of three players along with Montoya and Sam Van Buren who will graduate this spring — was a force on both ends of the floor, recording a double-double with 26 points and 17 rebounds to go along with four blocks. Younger players came up big for the Tigers as well, signifying the passing of the torch for future squads. First-year guard Jay Miller stepped up in the second half, dropping 12 of his 14 points in the period, including a game-tying runner in the lane with two seconds remaining in regulation. Sophomore Chad Tanioka sealed the deal for the unit, knocking down a three-pointer with two minutes left on the clock in the final overtime and giving Occidental the lead for the final time at 86-83. The Tigers travel to Pomona-Pitzer Saturday at 5 p.m.

Women’s Basketball (12-12 overall, 6-9 SCIAC)
The Occidental women’s basketball team played two conference home games last week, dropping its first against Chapman Thursday and taking a decisive eight-point win over Whittier Saturday. The Tigers saw their playoffs hopes dashed as they committed 19 turnovers against the Panthers and were unable to break through Chapman’s stifling defense in a 71-62 loss. However, guard Ashton Reid (junior) tallied 15 points in the contest. The team then honored its six graduating seniors — Crystal Goodwin, Alyssa Mort, Brittni Walker, Kristen Treat, Elizabeth Messick and Michelle Naito-Lo — with a 66-58 victory over the Poets in their final game inside Rush Gymnasium. Reid again catalyzed the black and orange offense, setting the pace up and down the floor and coming away with a team-high 20 points on 42 percent shooting from the field. Messick posted her signature double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Walker also reached double figures with 11 points. The Tigers travel to Pomona-Pitzer Saturday at 7 p.m. for their season finale.

Tommy Edwards win appeal, gains additional year of eligibility
In a game against Redlands on Oct. 5, Occidental quarterback Tommy Edwards (senior) rolled out and connected with wide receiver Cordell Harris (first-year) for a touchdown. But while trying to avoid a sack, he took a hit that resulted in a broken arm, prematurely ending his season and presumably college career. Because it was sustained in only the team’s third game, the NCAA determined the injury occurred early enough in the season and was serious enough to grant Edwards a medical redshirt.

“[Athletic Director] Jamie Hoffman, [Head Trainer] Joe Gonzalez, Coach [Doug] Semones and my surgeon Dr. [Gregory] Adamson all played instrumental roles in helping me,” Edwards said.

Both Edwards and Semones expressed excitement over the quarterback’s return.

“It’s tough to have your season and career end in just the third game of the season,” Semones said. “Tommy wanted to come back and finish things differently. He and Bryan Scott (first-year) give us talent and experience at the quarterback position.”

With multiple starters returning, Edwards believes that the team has chance to compete for the SCIAC Championship and has already begun preparing for the upcoming season.

The Tigers (5-4 overall, 4-3 SCIAC in 2013) open training camp in August.

Geneva Perez (Women’s Water Polo Goalkeeper No. 1)
Senior goalkeeper Geneva Perez has anchored the Occidental women’s water polo team (1-3 overall, 0-0 SCIAC) through the preliminary part of its season. Stepping into large shoes left behind by All-SCIAC goalie Raiye Adeleye ’13, Perez has risen to the challenge. Highlighting her season so far is a performance in which she tallied seven saves in the Tigers’ lone win of the campaign thus far against Cal State San Bernardino on Feb. 8. She also recorded fives saves in each of Occidental’s contests against Whittier and Azusa Pacific. Although the talented senior has been a constant defensive force when guarding the net, the black and orange continue to run a two-keeper system, allowing fellow senior goalkeeper Sofie Munoz to get in on the action. This rotation allows for each goalkeeper to get rest during weekends in which the squad is scheduled to play a doubleheader. The Tigers will lean on these two seniors to continue to make an impact on defense to complement their offensive attack. Occidental travels to the CalLufornia Invitational on Mar. 1-2, opening up against Long Beach State at 11:45 a.m. on the first day of the event.

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