volume 75 // issue 14
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THE UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT RUN NEWSPAPER DECEMBER 15 - DECEMBER 21, 2015VOLUME 75 // ISSUE 14
SINCE 1979
In this issue:
Sports: The underdog men-tality. Pg. 7
Follow The STAR: @sonomastatestar @sonomastatestar /sonomastatestar Visit: sonomastatestar.com
A&E: Our favorite albums of the year. Pg. 10
Student Life: Winter fashion on campus. Pg. 8
Opinion: Redefining terror-ism. Pg. 3
Associated Students votes in favor of Dream Center to support undocumented students
STAR // Gustavo Vasquez
Despite questions about funding, Associated Students President Brandon Mercer supports the establishment of a Dream Center.
AnnA Kehrlein
Staff Writer
Sonoma State Uni-versity’s Associ-ated Students heard
from the community’s undocumented student population before vot-ing on the establishment of the Dream Center on campus at Friday’s meet-ing. The meeting began with students standing against the walls of the room silently in solidar-ity with signs encourag-ing a Dream Center, signs that spoke for themselves before a single word was spoken. After comment from students and com-munity members, Asso-ciated Students voted in favor of the resolution, approving the establish-ment of the center.
Sonoma State student Maria Nolasco shared her experience as an undocu-mented student applying to work at the university’s
Writing Center. She said she met all the require-ments of the job but be-cause she was undocu-mented, was denied.
“The only thing I lacked was U.S. citizen-ship. I know I am not the first undocumented student that got rejected from recieving services. They led me to EOP but because I am not an EOP student, they couldn’t lead me anywhere,” said Nolasco. “We just want [people] to know that we [undocumented students] are here, and we exist.”
Sonoma State Presi-dent Ruben Armiñana first announced the Dream Center during a meeting with California Faculty Association Council for Affirmative Action and the Dreamers Club in September. He announced that the wants the Dream Center completed by the end of his tenure and be-lieves he is still on track
to complete that goal. Ac-cording to Armiñana, the Dream Center would be paid for by the universi-ty’s general fund budget.
Stephanie Segovia, a graduate student at Uni-versity of San Francisco, conducted a needs assess-ment to see how Sonoma State can best help un-documented students. Her work was conducted in consolidation with col-leagues Carolina Hernan-dez and Amanda Chavez. According to her focus group, DREAMers would like the center to provide legal services, academic support and financial aid and scholarship informa-tion. A location for the Dream Center has not yet been identified. Stu-dents feel that in regards to location, a place that is both visible and accessi-ble, such as Salazar Hall, would be ideal.
“For the physical structure of the center
they want to have a study area with some comput-ers, offices for the staffs working at the center, and a private/conference room,” Segovia said. “But most importantly, they want this space to make undocumented students feel welcome.”
The DREAMer Club’s Faculty Advis-er Mariana Martinez, agrees.
“The services a cen-ter would offer are similar to the ones other students receive but they would be specifically for undocu-mented students. This means that academic ad-vising, financial aid and scholarships would be specifically for undocu-mented students,” said Martinez. “This would all be helpful so that they are not running around all over campus, with
See DREAM CENTER on Pg. 5
STAR // Connor Gibson
Weaver’s Winter Wonderland, located in Rohnert Park, draws students and community members alike during the holiday season,
Seasonal happenings in Sonoma County
See the full story on page 9.
University replaces online sexual assault training
following hack in SeptemberFrAncisco cArbAjAl
Staff Writer
Sonoma State Univer-sity has been given an update on the
sexual awareness training replacement program to take the place of the failed Agent of Change program students were required to complete last semester. Students will be expected to complete the new train-ing program by Feb. 14.
“We have selected a new online sexual as-sault prevention training program called ‘Think About It’ administered by Campus Clarity. We use this same company for our employee online training,” said Joyce Suzuki, manag-ing director, employee re-lations and compliance of Title IX.
The failed online in-teractive program called Agent of Change, admin-istered by We End Vio-lence, was made manda-tory with the warning that it would put a hold on stu-dents’ spring registration if not completed by a set deadline. The deadlines were delayed multiple times to accommodate students during the first weeks of school in the fall semester. After many email reminders about the hold punishment, Agent of Change was hacked on Sept. 3, resulting in stu-dents’ private information being at risk.
Suzuki also has given a new timetable for this new program. “The train-ing will be rolled out to
students at the beginning of the spring semester,” said Suzuki. “It is a re-quired refresher training for all students regardless if they were able to com-plete the Agent of Change training or not. The CSU requires all students to do a refresher training once a year.”
“Although [the pro-gram is] time consuming and we think we know about the issue [of sexual assault], I believe that it’s a good way to remind our students and campus where to reach for help. I just wished they had picked a better trainer,” said Gyuwha Lee, junior nursing major.
Some students aren’t too happy with the deci-sion of a new required training program. “I get why they’re doing it but it really wasn’t effective the first time around and the responses were so unreal-istic,” said Amanda Gony-er, senior psychology ma-jor. “I don’t think anyone took it seriously. I hope the
new program is way better or Sonoma State shouldn’t do it all especially if it comes from our tuition.”
The money from the hacked Agent of Change can only be refunded by the Chancellor’s Office since it was a systemwide contract according to Su-zuki. When asked where the money came to fund the Title IX training, Su-zuki replied, “We use campus Operating Funds to pay for this training. The Operating Fund in-cludes both state appropri-ation and student tuition revenues. The campus has not received a grant or oth-er funds to pay for these trainings.”
“The irony of the fact that I am learning about web security in a class that I am taking at a univer-sity which compromised our security is laughable, disappointing and not to mention the program was so poorly made. I really do hope the school gets their/our money back,” said stu-dent Andranik Paylozyan.
STAR // Brandon Stachnik
Sonoma State University students will be expected to complete a new sexual as-sault training program by Feb. 14.
New university president to be announced in January
rAchAel newmAn
Staff Writer
Sonoma State University is sched-uled to announce the university’s next president on Jan. 27. The
presidential selection process is an ex-tensive and private process according to the Board of Trustees Policy for the Selection of Presidents. California State University Chancellor Timothy White and the Board of Trustees are searching for a well qualified applicant with much experience and outstanding leadership skills to fill current Sonoma State Presi-dent Ruben Armiñana’s shoes.
“The CSU Board of Trustees is con-ducting the search for our next presi-dent, not Sonoma State,” said Associate Vice President for Marketing and Com-munications Susan Kashack.
“This was a surprise to us as we expected to be heavily involved in the
process, but found that is not how hiring new presidents is handled in the CSU.”
The Chair of the Board of Trustees designates a Trustees Committee for the selection of the president. The members on the presidential search committee are obliged to keep any information about the search under confidence, accord-ing to the Chair of the Faculty and Aca-demic Senate and Professor of anthro-pology Richard Senghas. Those serving on the committee can’t mention any applicants, the amount of candidates, or how many people advanced into the semi-final stages. Candidates advancing to the next level of consideration were decided on Dec. 1 by the Trustees Com-mittee for the selection of the president. No information about the candidates can be released in order to keep the search professional.
See PRESIDENT on Pg. 4
Sonoma State University has announced it will be requir-ing a new sexual assault awareness program for students to complete. Staff Writer Francisco Carbajal delivers the
details with quotes straight from the source.
Read the story on page 1
Editorial Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015Page
sonomastatestar.com2
Editorial Policy: The commentary expressed in the unsigned editorial represents a major-
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THE STAREditorial Board
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necessarily those of the STAR or SSU. The editorial reflects the views of the STAR Editorial Board on issues it considers to be of particular relevance to the campus community.
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Brandon Stachnik, Editor-in-ChiefKayla E. Galloway, News EditorJenna Fischer, Opinion Editor
Ashley Mar tin, Ar ts & Enter tainment EditorShannon Brown, Student Life Editor
Tommy Call, Spor ts EditorBrennan Chin, Photo Editor
Edward Goquingco, Copy EditorKyler Khan, Copy Editor & Marketing Director
Cassandra Owens, Adver tising DirectorConnor Gibson, Distribution Director
Gustavo Vasquez, Editorial Car toonistPaul Gullixson, Faculty Adviser
Staff Writers
Photographers
Aubrey Anzelmo, Natalie AroJustin Barrientos, Nikki Bridges Francisco Carbajal, Jerri Cohen Megan Corcoran, Sean Curzon
Samuel Davis, Christine EdwardsJoseph Encinas, Noe Felix
Justin Freeman, Ryan GreenFlorencia Hasson, Olivia Hunt
Anna Kehrlein, Olivia LuccheseRachael Newman, Lawrence Ricardo
Kaila Sanders, Aubrie Tolliver
“University replaces online sexual assault training following hack in September”
Nicole DetmersSarah Fishback, Thomas Lynch
WE'D LIKE TOREAD IT.
HAVE AN OPINION?
Corrections/ClarificationsA column titled “The loves and woes of a Theatre Arts
and Dance major” that appeared Dec. 8, implied the writer of the piece, Lawrence Ricardo, was a Theatre Arts and Dance major. He is a business major.
In the article titled “French exchange student reflects on Paris attacks”, published Dec. 8, it’s written the most recent terrorist attacks on Paris occurred on Dec. 4. The attacks referenced in the article took place Nov. 13.
Hard work and dedica-tion used to be all one needed to succeed in
the world of higher education. Nowadays, college is be-
coming increasingly inacces-sible—is this sign of the times or something changing within American culture that doesn’t support the academic pursuits of young people? Tuition costs in the California State Univer-sity have more than doubled since 2005, an obvious indica-tion that college is becoming less accessible to students in California.
Education is a basic right all young people should have access to no matter one’s so-cioeconomic status or fam-ily background. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the cur-rent generation of college stu-dents.
The cost of higher educa-tion is eliminating people who may not have the needed finan-cial resources to attend col-lege, which is ref lective of the changing world of higher edu-cation.
The California State Uni-versity is considered one of the most affordable educational systems in the U.S. But is col-lege in California really afford-
able when the cost of atten-dance—no matter how afford-able—prevents so many people from attending?
According to the Wall Street Journal, student debt in the U.S. has more than tripled in the last decade with the number most recently surpass-ing $1.2 trillion nationwide.
In August, Democratic Presidential Candidate Hill-ary Clinton spoke out on the concept of debt-free tuition at public universities—something that is unimaginable to many current college students.
Clinton’s plan would cost an estimated $350 million over the next 10 years, according to the Wall Street Journal.
As students at a public uni-versity in California, graduat-ing college with thousands of dollars of debt is inexcusable.
College is supposed to be a time when students can expand their minds and focus solely on learning. Students shouldn’t have to worry about how to pay tuition or rent—which is all too common for college students of this generation.
The stress of money and fi-nances is a reality for the av-erage student at Sonoma State University—a stress that some-
times overtakes lives and makes one forget about why they’re in college. The tuition cost of at-tending Sonoma State in 2005, a mere decade ago, was $2,520 and for this academic year the cost is $5,472, a clear example of the rising costs of college throughout the year.
Tuition is not the only price of attending Sonoma State. In addition to basic tuition, stu-dents pay an extra $929 catego-rized as campus-based fees, a number that varies at each CSU campus.
It’s easy to simply talk about why college should be cheaper and more accessible, but is it realistic to picture a world where college is attain-able no matter one’s financial state? Maybe not—but it can’t hurt to encourage lawmakers and university leaders to make a change when it comes to the cost of higher education.
The world of higher educa-tion is f lawed in terms of cost, but does a high cost increase the value of a college degree in terms of its worth?
The answer is yes, but the degree’s value still doesn’t make up for the fact that some students’ may spend the rest of their lives in debt.
The perpetual burden of student debt
Florencia Hasson
Staff Writer
I’m 22 years old, about to begin my last semester of college; I’m starting to wonder, “what was the point of it all?” Perhaps I am just confronting the regular
college senior blues and deeply existential thoughts, but I think there’s more to it this time.
From the day we are put into kindergarten to the day we submit our first college applications, we are constantly being conditioned to believe one thing: without receiving a good, college-level education or attending a prestigious university, we are nothing. In societal standards this may ring true, but should it?
Everyone should value a good education, and educa-tion shouldn’t be a privilege, although our bureaucratic society would seem to suggest that it is. We fight along-side our peers to receive the best grades, with college as the golden trophy at the end of our race. What we don’t realize is there is no use for a college degree if in the end, we’re just half-assing it for the sake of saying that we have one.
At the end of the day, no one cares if you went to col-lege, it’s what you did while you were there and the plans and dreams that you aspired to have with your degree that matters. The problem with this is many of us don’t have solid dreams or aspirations when we graduate high school and we still haven’t really gotten it figured out by the time we’re well into college. We’re told we must declare a major, and once we have, we’re still somehow wasting our time taking useless anthropology general education courses that have nothing to do with what we want to study.
If I could do it all over again, I would have taken a gap year (or two) to work, figure myself out and learn what I’m passionate about. Not waste the best, most vi-tal years of my life drinking and partying to the point where you have that scary realization of “what the hell am I doing with my life?” But maybe we need that. Perhaps that’s part of growing up; but I could’ve done that without spending 15 grand or more a year.
I love college, everyone’s young and excited, carefree
and bubbling with new ideas. But why must we put so much pressure on the importance of going to a four year university? It’s especially silly when we don’t know what we want to do. It all ties back into our societal bad hab-its. I chose to study Communications because I thought, “well I like people and I’m a good communicator… Com-munications it is,” and that’s not the way it should be. I should have never felt the pressure I felt and still feel to make something out of myself. I can become someone without following bureaucratic and societal standards.
I have a daunting image that my mother has ingrained in my head of me becoming a big, fat, failure; but shouldn’t it be my happiness that really matters? Not what makes her happy or what society tells me will give me happiness or a good life.
I have felt overwhelmed with the pressures my fam-ily and other adults have put on me by asking the most dreaded sentence; “what do you want to do once you graduate?” I can’t tell you how much I hate that sentence and how often I’ve heard it. Sure some people have it plain and simple, figured out; they’re going to go to grad school and study medicine, or become a lawyer, or work on their music or work for some startup in San Francisco. Me? I don’t know, I change my answer every time, and I’ve got-ten pretty good and creative at sounding like I know what I’m going to do.
The important thing I’ve realized is I don’t need to please anyone but myself; I don’t need to quiver at the idea of being a failure in the eyes of my mother because I know as long as I’m happy she will be too.
So when I walk the stage this May to grab my much anticipated college diploma and turn to face my unknown future, I’ll have a new sense of self-confidence and com-fort that whatever I choose to do, I don’t need to figure it all out right away. I’m only young once, and if I want to travel, explore and continue learning and growing as a person, I should do just that. I’m not ready to take up a desk job at some small office downtown, running some-one’s boring social media account. I have so much more in store for myself and I don’t need to prove my self-worth to anyone but myself.
There will be plenty of time in the future to sit at a desk and do the “adult life” and provide for my family. For now, I have my youthful spirit, energy, curiosity and soon a degree in the mail, but I have time to live a little first before I condemn myself to an eternity of work. Money can buy happiness for some, but so can experiences, and I’d rather make the memories now. There will be plenty of time later on to make money or go back and get a masters, but for now I just plan on living and learning about myself and what I love, and with the idea that it will all work out in the end, one way or another.
OpinionDec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015 3sonomastatestar.com
Page
ryan Green
Staff Writer
The definition of terror-ism in America has be-come nearly as skewed
as the crime itself. If you ask anyone to imagine a terror-ist, chances are they’ll imag-ine him with a turban on his head. What led Americans to this racist and incorrect con-clusion?
Throughout history, the public’s idea of terrorism has evolved, targeting certain groups. For example, in 1914 the terrorists were the Serbian Black Hand, the group that assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In 1939, it was the Nazi party. In the 50s and 60s, it was the Communists. And now it is al-Qaeda and ISIS. The terrorists change based on recent global conflicts.
Islamophobia, or fear of Muslims, is something that has been increasing exponen-tially over the past five years.
US Uncut reports that in 2014 there were 154 hate crimes against Muslims, and the number is expected to be higher than that for 2015. In the past week alone, there have been 19 hate crimes against Muslims nationally.
America, with help from biased media outlets, has de-cided that all Muslims are dan-gerous, militaristic extremists. Because of this, the stereotype
against Muslims has been summed up by calling them ‘terrorists’.
But to get it straight, the formal definition of terror-ism according to Merriam-Webster is “the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal.”
When given this defini-tion, terrorism can be applied to much more than what we know as terrorists. The defini-tion also doesn’t specify that the group trying to achieve their goal must be the group to commit the violent act.
In August, Rohnert Park police officer Dave Rodriguez drew his gun on Don McCo-mas in an attempt of intimida-tion, to try and stop McComas from recording the encounter on his phone. The violent act was the drawing of the gun on McComas.
The Patriot Act, which ex-pired in June of this year, was signed into law by President Bush soon after 9/11 and was enacted in order to “intercept and obstruct terrorism”, as stated in the act. The Patriot Act used the country’s fear of terror to disguise several laws involving strictly inter-nal affairs, such as Section 215 (which violated the Fourth
Amendment), allowing for their ratification. The violent act used in this case was 9/11.
One could even say that megalomaniac Donald Trump is using a form of terrorism in his campaign, instilling fear of ‘radical Islam’ in his followers in order to gain the popular vote.
Those are some examples of the true definition of terror-ism, all of which take place in our own country and are com-mitted by our own country.
Another misconception about terrorism, Islamic ter-rorism in particular, is that it’s caused purely by religious con-flicts. Here’s an example: ISIS claimed that the attack in Paris last month was retaliation for French air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, as well as French President François Hollande’s foreign policy to-wards Muslims worldwide.
Actually, Islam and Chris-tianity have a surprising amount of similarities, in that they both worship God, ad-vocate peace (the word Islam comes from the arabic word salam, meaning ‘peace’), fol-low the Ten Commandments and believe in heaven and hell.
The idea is that terrorism changes through the ages. Ter-rorists can be any race, any religion and have any motive. Being a terrorist doesn’t mean that you are Muslim, in fact ,that is an outright racist con-clusion.
The fearmongering that American politicians and me-dia companies have been do-ing has destroyed the country’s ability to think open-mindedly about Muslims.
In fact, we reject the idea so much that we don’t even notice the fearmongering that has been happening in our own country.
False face of terrorism
Take your experience and run with it
Humble for the holidays
Kyler KHan
Copy Editor & Marketing Director
Thanksgiving was almost a month ago but as we continue through the holiday season, it’s another good time to be thankful once again. Dur-ing the holidays can be too caught up in the buying, the gifts and the
things. For example, a recent photo caption I read mentioned how Black Fri-day brings out people to buy more things after being thankful for what they already had in their life. The winter holidays can be the same way with gifts.
These things, like Starbucks cup controversies, can be distractions to what’s really important about the winter break. No matter what our religious preference, we all get the same amount of time away as an opportunity to spend time with family and friends.
Before walking into the grocery store the other day, I looked at the prices on some of the smaller Christmas trees being sold out front. Some of them cost more than I expected, between 30 and 60 dollars. As a college student, I’ve been budgeting for my main, important costs and trees are important, but this was out of my range. Regardless, the smell of the trees reminded me of the great times our family had growing up during this time of year.
As a family, we’d pick our tree together and it was the only time of year we could run around in the tree lot. It also reminded me that the people, spe-cifically our parents, that made the experiences got us into the spirit possible. The decorations were great, they were the icing on the cake, but it’s nicer to have the familiar faces around to spend time with.
Some of us have certain holiday traditions that make this time of year memorable, like picking a tree or seeing friends from high school that you haven’t seen since the summer. After finals week, some students will head home for the winter break. For those of us heading back to our hometown, we can enjoy the break but if we have the home and decorations to go home to, we are very fortunate.
For those of us with any down time during the break, volunteering at a local food bank or soup kitchen could become a new tradition. If we have more than enough clothes in our closet, a trip to the Salvation Army could become a tradition.
Let’s make it a memorable break and enjoy the great holiday no matter how many things we have.
The popular Christmas cartoon movie, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” probably explains it best. After Charlie Brown got picked on for having a small tree with one ornament, Linus tells him, “I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all really. Maybe it just needs a little love.”
Courtesy // Tiffany McGaughey
Terrorists can be any race, any
religion and have any mo-tive. Being a
terrorist doesn’t mean that you are Muslim, in fact that is an outright rac-
ist conclusion.
News Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015Page
sonomastatestar.com4
C A M P U S C R I M E
C o u r t e s y : S o n o m a S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y P o l i c e S e r v i c e s
TOP NEWS STORIES FROM THE FALL '15 SEMESTER
Aug. 31President Ruben Arminana announces retirement
Sonoma State University searches for next president
Sept. 15Search for next university president begins
New president to be announced in January
Oct. 13Students question safety after reports of rape on campus
Two reports of rape prompt students to speak out
Oct. 27Alph Sigma reinstated after alleged conduct violation
Organization to be off probation in January
Nov. 3Fake gun scare prompts alertHalloween costume gone wrong
Nov. 10Faculty association votes to strikeStrike expected to occur next semester
Nov. 17Bike theft suspect arrested
Associated Students discuss remedy to bike theft problem
California student among those killed in Paris attacksCSU Long Beach mourns student’s death in vigil
Dec. 8French exchange student reflects on Paris attacks
Exchange student gives first-hand account on the terror in Paris
Continued from Pg. 1
a center it all would be centralized.”
Ideally, Martinez would like the center to have a director, a program coordinator, and at least two stu-dent assistants. Marti-nez believes that since the Dream Center is something that Armi-ñana committed to, he should not place the cost on students’ shoul-ders.
Instead, she sug-gests he redirect al-ready existing funds towards the Dream Center from depart-ments such as athletics, which she says are am-ply funded. According
to Martinez, 67.5 per-cent of student fee rev-enue funds the athletics department, which con-sists of 300 students, or about 2 percent of the student body.
According to As-sociated Students Pres-ident Brandon Mer-cer, the Dream Center would be located in the HUB in an office space that is currently being used for storage.
He wishes to clari-fy that this office space is not a storage closet as he thought at a pre-vious meeting, but a normal office space. Despite funding con-cerns, Mercer is fully supportive of a Dream Center.
“I think a Dream Center at Sonoma State would be fantas-tic. This is just one more step the univer-sity is taking to serve our students and pro-vide the resources they need to succeed and graduate in a timely manner,” said Mer-cer. “I think this topic has drawn controversy in the Senate because we as students need to know where the fund-ing is coming from. It is too common a trend for money to be spon-taneously ‘found’ in or-der to pay for these ac-tivities; we all deserve to know exactly where this money is coming from.”
facebook.com/DREAMERSClubSSU
Sonoma State University’s DREAMers Club has been advocating for the establishment of a Dream Center to assist the university’s un-documented population and on Friday, Associated Students voted in the club’s favor.
DREAM CENTER: Funded by university’s general fund
STAR // Brennan Chin
Sonoma State University President Ruben Armiñana announced his retire-ment at this year’s convocation. The CSU is still in search of Armiñana’s suc-cessor, though the next university president is expected to be announced on Jan. 27.
Continued from Pg. 1
“The search committee is very strong and brings with it such a diverse group of minds to critically analyze every candidate,” said Associated Students President Brandon Mercer.
Although, Mercer said the committee lacks student representation, and the stu-dents are the majority. He is the only student in the room, and represents the student population with his voice. Mercer is happy with the can-didates that have advanced thus far.
“We are getting closer everyday, to finding a fantas-tic candidate to lead Sonoma State,” said Mercer.
The search process con-sists of many meetings, some open to the public and others private.
According to the Board of Trustees Policy for the Selection of Presidents, the Trustees Committee meet together to go over Sonoma
State’s campus needs and the expectations or desired quali-ties or characteristics of the new president.
After these meetings and discussions, applications were accepted and the candidate pool developed.
“The Sonoma State presi-dential search process is on target with the goal of appoint-ing a new president before the close of the academic year,” said Assistant Vice Chancel-lor of Public Affairs Laurie Weidner.
“I think our students de-serve a president that is heav-ily integrated into everyday campus life. Our students deserve a great leader moving forward that they feel comfort-able stopping and talking to on their way to class or running into them in the student cen-ter,” said Mercer. “After all, Sonoma State has over 9,000 students, we are the absolute majority and the primary reason this institution exists; a new president must realize who the primary stakeholders
in this university really are.”The final decision and re-
sponsibility for the new presi-dent is up to the board, and the chancellor selected a staff to back the process.
Armiñana will retire June 30, 2016 and the new president will take office on July 1, 2016.
Armiñana has been with Sonoma State for 24 years by the time of his retirement, making him the longest serv-ing president in the CSU.
“President Armiñana has been such a great ally of mine this year and an invaluable mentor. Even throughout this search process, I have sought his guidance as to strategies to effectively serve all our stu-dents in a room where I have the least seniority,” said Mer-cer. “I am so thankful for his warm greetings every time I meet with him and his unwav-ering love for this university and its students.”
For more information on Sonoma State’s presidential search, visit sonoma.edu/pres-identialsearch.
Crime Date Status
Petty theft 12/3/2015 Suspended
Petty theft 12/4/2015 SuspendedVandalism
Public 12/6/2015 Arrest: Eric D.intoxication Reab, 21Obstruct publicofficer
Grand theft 12/7/2015 Suspended
Petty theft 12/7/2015 Arrest
Petty theft 12/3/2015- Suspended 12/7/2015
Warrant 12/10/2015 Arrest: Kevin P. White, 47
Dec. 2-Dec. 10
PRESIDENT: University amid final
stages of search process
N E W S
I N B R I E F
San Francisco
On Monday, ESPN reported the San Francisco Giants signed Pitcher Johnny Cueto to a six-year, $130 million deal that gives him the option to opt out after two years. Cueto, formerly with the Kansas City Royals and Cincinnati Reds, has been considered one of the best pitchers in the American League, though ESPN speculates the Giants took a risk signing Cueto with an elbow injury that plagued him last season. Cueto joins the Giants along Pitcher Jeff Samardzija for the 2016 season with a combined ERA of 5.29 in the last year.
San Bernardino
The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that one of the shooters in the San Bernardino at-tacks, Tashfeen Malik, messaged friends on Facebook about her support for Islamic Jihad, showing that U.S. law enforcement missed early signs of her terrorist connections. During investi-gations following tha attack on Dec. 4, the FBI looked into both Malik and her husband’s social media accounts, recovering two private mes-sages send to Malik’s friends in Pakistan. FBI offi-cials say her messages “expressed her desire” to become a jihadist.
Deltona, Fla.
The Associated Press reports that a Florida wom-an found 22-year-old Eryn Rice in her home, wearing her husband’s pajamas and believed her husband was having an affair. As a twist, Rice had been running from the law, after alleg-edly shoplifting. Rice hid in the woman’s house, washed her clothes and took a nap, when the woman found her. She assumed her husband was cheating on her with the 22-year-old, but her husband denied it, saying he’d never seen the woman. Both the woman and her husband then took Rice back to her home and called local authorities, who then arrested her on sus-picion of shoplifting.
News 5Page
Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015sonomastatestar.com
Associated Students
discusses remedies to issue
of parking on campus
Joseph encinas
Staff Writer
Thousands of stu-dents flock to the campus of
Sonoma State Univer-sity in search of a space to study and prepare for the upcoming week of finals.
During this time, the 9300 students of Noma Nation crowd the library, study rooms and cafes for hours on end to get as much cramming in as pos-sible, which is also causing a crowding in the parking lots around campus. The lack of parking spaces avail-able and the amount of students on campus has become an issue that has captured the atten-tion of Associated Stu-dents of Sonoma State.
In a Senate meet-ing held Friday, Dec. 11, Associated Students decided to hear the resolution. Every year, students have some-thing to say about how to improve parking at Sonoma State, so Asso-ciated Students has de-cided to give their fel-low Seawolves a voice. The resolution calls for the extension of general parking passes to in-clude reserved evening parking pass spaces and hours, as well as making parking avail-able all weekends.
Out of the 9,414 students that attend Sonoma State Univer-sity, only 29 reserved evening parking passes have been purchased, as of Oct. 30.
Modern college students are hounded with various financial
burdens, whether it be tuition, transportation, books or groceries, so extending the boundar-ies of the general park-ing pass may help ease some of that burden.
“I could afford the $98 general park-ing pass, but the $175 reserved evening pass was just out of my fi-nancial ability,” said freshman environmen-tal studies and plan-ning major Nick DiMa-rio. “Having available parking spaces should not be the student’s worry, it should be pro-vided.”
Besides the finan-cial factor, the safety of students is also a big reason for Associ-ated Students being the voice of the campus community on this is-sue.
According to a re-lease put out by Associ-ated Students, students have expressed their concern when walking to and from their eve-ning classes from Gen-eral Parking lots, citing poorly lit walkways and long distances as the main reasons for feeling like their safety is at risk.
“Walking to class at night, especially after the time change, is that much more sketchy,” said Alyssa Mejia, ju-nior kinesiology major at Sonoma State. “And during finals week, parking becomes more and more scarce, and even further away from campus each time.”
Of the five closest parking lots to build-ings on campus that in-volve the least amount of walking for students,
four are reserved lots. This includes Lot A, parking closest to Car-son Hall and the Art Building, Lots B, C and D, which all surround the library and are closest to the Student Center and the Recre-ation Center. These areas, especially dur-ing the last two weeks of school, see the most foot traffic on a daily basis and are the areas students would prefer to park in.
“I have received two tickets in the last month of the semes-ter because no general parking was left,” ex-plained Junior Busi-ness Marketing major Thomas Lynch. “So I chose to park in re-served lots because after spending twenty minutes going up and down the general park-ing, I was fed up. I have only done this twice, and both times I got a ticket for it. There just is not enough parking.”
Officials for park-ing services say they are constantly working towards making park-ing easily accessible to students and will continue to find ways to alleviate parking struggles during times where students are on campus most, par-ticularly during finals week. The school has already allocated for more study spaces on campus, but that is only half of the battle.
For any further in-formation or to clarify any outstanding ques-tions, visit Police and Safety Services on campus or visit so-noma.edu/ps.
Arts Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015Page
sonomastatestar.com6
23 17MOVIES RELEASING THIS WEEK ALBUMS RELEASING THIS WEEK
Chris Brown - “Royalty” (R&B)
Cage the Elephant - “Tell Me I’m
Pretty” (Alternative Rock)
Baroness - “Purple” (Metal)
Pusha T - “Darkest Before The Dawn”
(Hip-Hop)
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” -
starring: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill,
Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac
“Sisters” - starring: Amy Poehler, John
Cena, James Brolin, Tina Fey
“Extraction” - starring: Bruce Willis,
Kellan Lutz, Steve Coulter, D.B.
Sweeney
Art, one line at a time
Howard makes a ripple, not a splash
Justin Freeman
Staff Writer
Commentary
Sonoma State University’s very own University Art Gallery always seems to have something interesting on dis-
play. From Nov. 5 to Dec. 13, the Art Gal-lery showcased three professional artists in an exhibition called “Linear Equations.”
The works of these artists all had a style of their own, but each shared the common characteristic of being made from lines of different types.
From nylon straps to copper wires, and long strings of yarn to strokes of paint, these artists embodied the long-standing history of linework through their creations, all while maintaining unique styles of their own.
For instance, the displayed works of artist Marc Katano, who is based in Sonoma County, consisted of dark brushstrokes over blank canvases. They looked much like cross-breeds of Eastern calligraphy and contemporary graffiti art.
While the largest piece must have been 12 feet tall by 12 feet long, the smallest was maybe only three feet high by three feet across.
It was interesting to see just how many shapes one could make out of the simplis-tic lines of paint; one would perhaps be re-minded of cloud gazing in doing so, as it was easy to see how two different people could interpret the same picture in two completely different ways.
“While his compositions are organic in form,” says Michael Schwager, the direc-tor of the University Art Gallery, “Katano does not intend them as emulations of na-ture but rather abstract records of their own creation.”
‘Abstract’ was certainly a good word to use, as Katano’s paintings didn’t seem to take on the shape of anything, except for the shapes people saw for themselves.
Napa’s Sabine Reckewell, another pro-fessional artist who was featured in “Lin-ear Equations,” created her works mostly by pinning strings of yarn to the wall, with the exception of one piece, which was made from straps of nylon. It was fascinat-ing to see how the lines would criss-cross each other and work together to comprise a greater whole.
One piece in particular, called “Under and Over” consisted of two different shapes.
The first was a twisted plane of stark orange yarn, which was so simple in design, yet so difficult to describe through words. It was contrasted by an elongated ray of perhaps 30-40 strings, stretched tightly to form a stiff beam shooting over the orange shape below, complementing the bright orange with its mellowing blue hue. According to Schwager, “Reckewell calls these installa-tions three-dimensional drawings.”
This could certainly be seen in her oth-er works as well, which may have struck viewers as merely two-dimensional on the first glance.
The triple dimensionality of these piec-es was created by alternating colors, which made the flat planes of string appear to have elements of depth to them, that may have been easily missed by casual passersby.
The third artist showcased by the Uni-versity Art Gallery this past month was Mari Andrews, who lives in Emeryville. She worked mostly with steel wires to create her pieces, but added bits of nature throughout as well such as acorns, wood, flax, and mica.
This was an interesting blend of man-made materials and natural formations. One of the first pieces visible upon enter-ing the Art Gallery was Andrews’s “Wild Hair.” Whereas some may have indeed seen a mess of hair in those metal wires, others may have seen a lightbulb, or even a hot air balloon. This rang true for Andrew’s other works as well; just like Katano and Reck-ewell.
Andrews created pieces that could be seen in many different ways. Like Katano, her works were abstract, and like Reckewell, they had both two and three dimensional aspects to them. Reckewell’s “Curleaf”, which was made from metal wire and bam-boo, bore resemblance to a human being putting their hands on their heart, perhaps out of flattery, or perhaps out of disgust.
The fact that “Curleaf” had no vestige of a face made this particular interpretation a compelling one, and showed the power that lines have to define images that we see.
Truly, lines do play a major role in our sense of sight. “Line as an element of visual art,” noted Schwager, “has been described as an identifiable path created by a point moving in space and varying in width, di-rection, and length.”
By seeing the how the same image can be viewed in different ways simultaneously, one can perhaps attain an appreciation for how our perceptions can shape our perspec-tives on reality.
sean Curzon
Staff Writer
Review
“In the Heart of the Sea,” directed by Ron Howard is loosely based on the true of the whaling ship Essex and its attack by a whale. The film follows “Moby Dick” author Herman Melville
(Ben Whishaw) as he interviews Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) about his time as a cabin boy (played by future Spiderman Tom Holland) aboard the Essex with Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) and First Mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemmsworth) as the ship is attacked by a sperm whale.
The technical side of the film is well done but good direction doesn’t stop the writing from sinking the film.
This film is well put together. The camera does an excellent job of simulating what it’s like to be at sea without giving the audience sea-sickness. The action captures both the dangers and the excitement of fighting a killer sperm whale. The special effects are fine as well. The CGI blends in with the sets and the actors so that it doesn’t distract from the action.
The major problem is that the emotional moments never seem to land. The movie jumps from moment to moment without archiving the emotional beat that Howard was going for. The main reason being that many plot threads are introduced, then dropped repeatedly.
One example of this was a theme of class warfare between Pollard, who comes from a long line of whalers, and Chase, whose father was a poor farmer, with each character making snide comments about each other’s background for the first half of the movie. This is completely dropped in the second half of the film once they start whale hunting.
Heck, even the whale hunting doesn’t receive enough focus. They only kill one whale. When you are trying to say something is bad be-cause of the obsession and greed it causes, you should properly show the characters doing it more than once. The movie doesn’t really know what it wants to be about. Is it about the survival of man? The danger that whaling inf licts upon whales?
It doesn’t focus on any theme in depth. This movie could easily be mistaken for the cliff notes version.
The problem is the whale that attacks them never feels like a char-acter in its own right. The whale follows the main cast around like the shark from “Jaws” but the audience doesn’t have an emotional connec-tion to the creature.
The framing device of Melville interviewing Nickerson serves as nothing but a disruption to the f low of the story, increasing the problems mentioned above. The film constantly cuts back to the interview with Melville commenting on what was happening.
The only reasons these scenes seem to exist is to pass the time and explain to the audience what they are supposed to be feeling, as if the film knows it’s not strong enough on its own and to remind the audi-ence that Melville will go on to write “Moby Dick.” Not the best idea to constantly compare your film to one of the greatest stories of all time.
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“In the Heart of the Sea” earned $11 million it’s opening week-end.
STAR // Justin Freeman
The Sonoma State University Art Gallery featured three professional artists’ work with a common theme: the use of lines.
Entertainment 7Page
Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015sonomastatestar.com
Top Albums of 2015‘The Ridiculous 6’ charms Netflix with cheap laughs
Marvel shows a more mature side
Noe Felix
Staff Writer
ChristiNe edwards
Staff Writer
Review
This western-comedy tells the story of White Knife, a cowboy with an iden-tity crisis played by Adam Sandler,
who sets out on a mission to save his es-tranged father after being kidnapped by a gang of greedy bandits. As White Knife be-gins his journey to track down his missing father, he is met by many obstacles and op-ponents. Along the way he is reunited with five of his half-brothers, who quickly agree to help him in the search for their father.
As they attempt to locate and protect this man who has been removed from their lives for as long as they can remember, the six brothers are brought closer together and they begin to form an unbreakable bond.
White Knife, also known as Tommy, has a particular set of skills that he brings to the table. He is stealthy and is able to outsmart opponents with his Kung-Fu-like quickness. He obtained great wisdom af-ter becoming orphaned at a young age and raised by the Apache Indian chief Screaming Eagle afterhis mother’s murder.
“The Ridiculous Six” is a Netflix origi-nal movie released this past Friday, and it aims to poke fun at western films, particu-larly the 1960 classic “The Magnificent Sev-en.”
This film has a couple of interesting plot twists that were unexpected, and the ending is likely not what the audience had anticipat-ed. Like any western film, moviegoers must wait with anticipation until the end to see if the guy will get the girl, and whether or not good will trump evil.
And wait you shall, as this film seemed somewhat long and tedious to finish with nearly two hours of playing time. The cheap laughs and crude humor are typical of other Happy Madison productions, and if you have
ever seen an Adam Sandler film in the past, “The Ridiculous Six” measures up well to his past work such as “Billy Madison,” “Happy Gilmore” and “The Wedding Singer.”
Not only is Sandler the star of the film, he is also co-writer as well as co-producer. There are many noteworthy actors in the cast including Taylor Lautner as the “spe-cial” redneck brother, Rob Schneider as Ramon, the donkey-loving hispanic brother and Steve Zahn, the cock-eyed cowboy out to stop the Stockburn Brothers from finding their father.
Vanilla Ice even makes an appearance as a rapping Mark Twain, showcasing his lyrical genius to fellow upper-class cowboy comrades. The number of hilarious actors in this film alone make it worth watching, and you are sure to be laughing throughout the majority of the movie. It could have been cut a little shorter however, as my mind began to drift midway through the film.
The film, although clearly a parody, did receive some bad publicity after upsetting some members of the Navajo Nation Indian Tribe.
Over 100 Native American tribe mem-bers were recruited to join the cast as extras, and several of them had reportedly walked off set after being offended by the film’s por-trayal of women and Native Americans.
This film is obviously meant to illicit laughter and is a good example of yet an-other Happy Madison Productions success. The film is good, but not great, yet it will certainly offer some cheap laughs and offen-sive jokes.
The writers rile everyone across the board however, as they poke fun at white people for their inability to dance, African Americans for working as entertainers for the white and wealthy, and women for being kept around solely as sex objects for men.
The jokes in this film are stupid-funny, rather than being witty and clever, but this is familiar territory when dealing with Adam Sandler. The bad stunts and weak acting only embrace the silliness that Sandler was going for, and this fun comedy is sure to make you laugh.
seaN CurzoN
Staff Writer
Review
Sometimes you need a hero, other times you just need a detective.
This is one of the latter. Based on the comic “Alias,” “Jes-sica Jones” brings yet another great show to enhance Mar-vel’s reputation. The name of the show was changed in order to avoid confusion with the old ABC show with the same name.
All 13 episodes of “Jes-sica Jones” were released on Nov. 20. The series follows title character Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), a former superhero who retired after a disturbing run-in with the super villain Kilgrave (David Tennant) who has the ability to control minds.
Jones currently acts as a private investigator, but when a missing person case leads
her back to Kilgrave, she must face her past. She is joined by her friend Trish Walker (Ra-chael Taylor), former child star-turned-radio talk show host. Luke Cage (Mike Col-ter) plays a bartender with in-destructible skin and ties with Jessica’s past.
“Jessica Jones” is part of the Marvel Cinematic Uni-verse. While in continuity with “The Avengers” films and the Netflix show “Dare-devil,” they’re not required homework to watch before-hand. The show follows as Jones deals with being in a world where people with powers are an everyday oc-currence.
The performances are great. Ritter brings out the edge in Jones. Tennant steals the show as Kilgrave. His performance adequately dis-plays the ego and psycho-pathic nature of someone who can literally get what-ever they want.
This is the most adult project that Marvel Studios has done. The show creates a feel of paranoia as Jones
never knows who is under Kilgrave’s control. Another theme is recovering and deal-ing with trauma.
The show, without hesi-tation, talks about subjects like rape and abortion. “Jes-sica Jones” talks about these subjects in a way that’s frank without becoming graphic or gratuitous.
The side plots are not as interesting as the main story. The episodes get bogged down with Jones’ eccentric neighbors or the marriage problems of her lawyer, all of which are just not essential to the series.
The show is shot rather realistically, as opposed to the noir style that most de-tective shows have. Voice-over is only used in the first and last episodes. Even the superpowers are presented very matter-of-fact. They’re no wham shots showcasing Jones’ powers. She just has super strength. No big deal.
“Jessica Jones” is a dark, yet mature look at superhe-roes from another perspec-tive.
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The first season of “Jessica Jones” was released by Netflix on Nov. 20.
1. “You Should Be Here” -Kehlani
Newcomer Kehlani stole the show this year. This album is the shot in the arm R&B
needed. It’s about joy and sadness, jeal-ousy and hate, love and lust. It takes a listener on a journey through one’s life. Kehlani’s voice is raspy, yet filled with so much soul. The great thing about this album is that no two tracks sound similar. Each song is carefully woven into a different story. “Bright” is a blues influenced song about self-love. “The Letter” is a powerful ballad that dis-cusses her broken relationship with her mother. Album highlight, “The Way,” is a smooth and slow production that weaves in and out of its bouncy synth, and is helped by a memorable verse
from Chance the Rapper. The song finds Kehlani showing her true feelings to the man she’s with. “Never met someone who spoke my language/ never met a n**ga done with playin’/ you the type of n**ga make me lane switch,” she sings. Kehlani’s album is astonishing and is a must-buy for any music lover out there.
4. “Beauty Behind The Madness” -The Weeknd
This album spawned multiple Bill-board top 10 singles, and for good reason. The Weeknd’s sopho-
more debut marked his first step into mainstream music, without leaving his signature drug and lust content behind. With sleek production by Kanye West, “Tell Your Friends” lets listeners know that he is still The Weeknd they fell in love with through his lyrics, “I’m that n**ga with the hair/ singing bout pop-pin’ pills/ f**cking bitches/ living life so
trill,” he croons. “Dark Times,” is argu-ably the best song on the album, paint-ing the picture of late night bar fights and failing to keep one’s promises. The content here is dark and bleak, but that’s what makes it so memorable.
5. “The Album About Nothing” -Wale
This album is without a doubt one of the most underappreci-ated albums of the year, yet one
of the biggest highlights. “The Album About Nothing” shows that Wale is a lyricist to be reckoned with, and it proves to be his strongest body of work to date. The album content is meaning-ful and mature, touching on issues that range from racism to commercialism.
“The White Shoes” is an amazing track that talks about materialism and its affect on how people view others. Wale argues that people care more about how they look than what they
are doing with their lives. Album highlight, “The Need To Know” dis-cusses the fine line between friends and lovers.
These stories make “The Album About Nothing” standout from the other mundane rap albums that 2015 brought.
2. “To Pimp A Butterfly” -Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar puts civil rights at the forefront of the album, rapping about the realities of
our world. The MC reminds everyone that systematic oppression still exists, and that it’s time for people to stand up and make a change. Everything from old school hip-hop to funk to soul are present in this album. “King Kunta” finds Lamar rapping about people who are afraid of a black man with power. With slick funk productions, Lamar raps, “B*tch, where was you when I was walking?/ Now I run the game got the
whole world talking/ Everybody want to cut the legs off him (Kunta)/ Black man taking no losses.” “Alright” is an uplifting track, finding Lamar rapping about the struggles he’s been through. There’s so much weight in the content presented, that it leaves its mark as the album ends.
3. “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” -Drake
Drake has been getting a lot of backlash over the years from everyone, with comments that
say that he is too emotional and soft. This album proved that Drake was ev-erything but that. No hooks, no pop songs, just good ol’ lyricism at its finest. Everyone is used to Drake rapping about losing love, and while there are a few tracks that show that, most are Drake proving that he is not to be messed with. His machismo and bravado are abound in this album. Drake vents his anger, his paranoia and the hardships of keeping friends in this business, all with amaz-
ing ferocity. The Ginuwine-sampling “Legend,” finds Drake bragging about being, of course, a legend in his city. It’s this sense of confidence that makes every track standout. “Jungle” slows ev-erything down, and takes the listeners to a Drake they are most used to. This album left fans wondering where Drake will go next.
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Student Life Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015Page
sonomastatestar.com8
One kiss with this toad and it’s loveLawrence ricardo
Staff Writer
Review
Community, diversity and inclusiveness are three of the most important values that owner Greg Ma-ples claims that his new Cotati restaurant, Jaded
Toad BBQ and Grill, is founded on. With its opening a little over two weeks ago, this restaurant may have had a shaky start, but my experience has me thinking they have a promising future.
The Jaded Toad is located in the Oliver’s shopping center in Cotati at 500 East Cotati Ave. that features an outdoor seating location with fire pits, community tables and an impressive outdoor bar.
Maples has an original Jaded Toad location in Wind-sor, CA, but wanted to bring a bigger location to the Cotati community because it offered a great target base as the area acts as a melting pot of cultures between the Sonoma County natives and the Sonoma State University college students. However, the opening of the Cotati location was not ideal for its timing. When I first heard of this place, I
questioned why an outdoor restaurant would open during the coldest season of the year. With El Niño expecting to hit within a few months, one can’t help but question the poorly planned timing.
“I actually did some digging around and heard that they ran out of money before they finished building it, so they had to force open it,” said Sonoma State alumni, Jamila Dozier.
Turns out they did open early, and consider this a “soft opening” as their official opening is on New Years Eve, according to my waitress. However, owner Greg Ma-ples explains the situation differently, in which he says the restaurant was supposed to be open months earlier.
“Timing didn’t work out the way that I wanted it. It was supposed to be a spring or summer opening, but it got delayed,” said Maples. “It was mainly because of dealing with five different agencies to open a restaurant—ABC, health, building, planning, and fire, in which you have to make them all happy.” The process that should have been much quicker ended up being dragged out.
Though the timing was not ideal for the business, it was apparent that the restaurant seems to be picking up momentum through the consistent flow of customers.
The Jaded Toad offers a happy hour from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in which all “munchies” menu items, also known as appetizers, are half-off in addition to $1 off all alcohol
purchases. This location is perfect if you are looking for an environment and ambiance that resembles locations such as the Hopmonk Tavern in Sebastopol and Lagunitas Brewing Co. in Petaluma.
I had the “Big & Sexy Fries” which were house cut fries and chili, topped with chopped onions & shredded cheeses. For the most part, it offered a reasonable amount of toppings to compliment the fries themselves.
I was pleased to see that flavor was important to them, which justified the costs of their menu items. My friend ordered the “Pulled Pork Sliders” that also proved satisfactory to its cost. It is on the costly side, but the op-tion for a happy hour dining experience offers a good al-ternative.
“The food reminded me of southern barbeque with a twist,” said Sonoma State student Julia Burton-Christie. “The outdoor seating was friendly and cozy, something you don’t see at a typical restaurant.”
It’s an exciting opportunity to have the Jaded Toad in the Cotati community. Open until 11 p.m. on weekdays and 12 a.m. on weekends, the grill provides the opportu-nity for Sonoma State students an alternative to the over-crowded and overhyped “Cotati Crawl”. However, you can have the best of both worlds and have dinner and a drink at the Jaded Toad and then walk less than five min-utes to the Downtown Cotati bars.
Campus fashion watch
This outfit is simple yet trendy. Turtle-necks are one of my favorite trends to date. I took a simple black turtleneck
sweater and “lazy tucked” the front end of the sweater into a pair of high wasted, maroon colored garment died skinny jeans.
To top off this outfit, I chose to go with a simple black belt, a black beanie and a mini-mal gold necklace. This outfit is cozy, chic and comfortable. This outfit showcases two of my favorite winter trends right now - cozy sweaters and colored pants.
I chose this outfit to demonstrate because the comeback of turtlenecks may be intimidat-ing to some, so I decided to keep it simple. It’s hard to go wrong when pairing two of one’s favorite basic items together, so feel free to mix and match.
Great and inexpensive pieces like these items can easily be found at any Forever 21, H&M, Zara, Nordstrom or Gap.
All black everything has been trending for quite some time now. Towards the end of fall and beginning of winter, I find it socially acceptable to pair black
items with other black items. Black merchandise always tends to pair well with one another.
Whether it’s black leather and black suede or black silk and black denim, anything goes. This outfit may be a bit more formal than your everyday boyfriend jeans and flannel, but I love the elevated and elegant look of this dress with these shoes. Because it is a bit more brisk out-side, I threw on a pair of tights for warmth.
This is a great day-to-night outfit. This dress is the per-fect dress to wear to work with a pair of black booties and chunky scarf and can easily transition into an evening appro-priate look. Just throw on a favorite leather jacket, and heels for your date downtown. Accessories with an outfit make all of the difference to me. To top off this sleek look, I added a black and gold statement necklace to add some edge. Black on black is always an easy, chic and versatile look.
With this outfit, I went for a casual, yet trendy approach. Plaid is one of my favorite trends that can easily be dressed up or dressed
down. When most think of plaid, it’s commonly affili-ated with ripped jeans or leggings, but it can easily be elevated with a little bit of creativity.
Here I am wearing black wax coated jeans that look similar to how a leather pant would. These high-rise black wax pants give this festive flannel more of an urban edge. To tie these pieces all together, I threw on a denim jacket and a pair of black booties. Plaid is always a go to- it’s cozy, colorful and comfortable. A plaid can add the perfect amount of pattern and warmth when it’s worn as a layering piece.
Winter editionJerri cohen
Staff Writer
With the help of cold weather and final exams, it’s easy to slump right into leggings and an oversized sweatshirt. I‘m here to remind the female students at Sonoma State University that looking chic, trendy and put-together is not as difficult and tedious as it’s hyped up to be in students’ heads. Clothing is a representation of how one would like to be portrayed at a first sight so swing by the local mall to pick up some items represented by my favorite winter trends.
COURTESY // Jerri Cohen
COURTESY // Jerri Cohen
COURTESY // Jerri Cohen
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The “Big & Sexy Fries” are one of the Jaded Toad’s most popular menu items and features sweet potato fries topped with onions, shredded cheese and chilli.
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The outdoor environment that the Jaded Toad offers gives a cozy and homey vibe. With a fire pit and lights hanging from the deck, the Jaded Toad is a casual place to get together with friends.
Student Life 9Page
Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015sonomastatestar.com
Come Explore The More Than 50 Graduate Programs We Offer In:
Enjoy light food and refreshments. Meet our faculty and staff. Circulate and ask questions. Enter to win one of three Kindle Fire 3s.
Graduate School Information EveningTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 6PMMCLAREN CONFERENCE CENTER
University of San Francisco2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco
Come early for information sessions about the application process and financial aid. Sessions begin at 5:00 and 5:30.
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» Management » Nursing and Health Professions
Seawolves SPEAK!Holiday traditions
Sammuel DaviS
Staff Writer
With the holidays just right around the corner, students are excited to be able to return to their families for the holidays. With a total of five weeks of freedom, seawolves are eager to start their breaks. All students are ready for their family traditions and home cooking. The STAR asked Sonoma State Univeristy students, “Do you have any holiday traditions that you will be celebrating over winter break?”
“This year for Christmas break
I will be working and taking
a winter class. On Christmas
Eve my family opens one gift
which is always PJs and a book
with a note from my dad on
the inside cover. On Christmas
Day, my family always goes
to the movies and the kids
cook dinner for the parents.”
-Gretchen Muller, third year communication and media
studies major
“Over Christmas break, I will
be going back home to San
Diego. My family and I go to
Disneyland every Christmas,
it’s our family tradition. My
roommate lives in L.A. so I’m
going to visit her as well. This
is going to be the first road
trip I have done with my
family.” - Dalia Calixto, first year sociology major
“My mom makes homemade
ravioli and cookies on
Christmas Eve. It’s a tradition
we have had ever since I
was little. Instead of my mom
writing our names on our
gifts, she gives us our own
color of wrapping paper. We
always find out on Christmas
eve what color we are going
to get; it’s a family tradition.”
- Daisy Agers, first year and early childhood studies major
“I am going to be going to
Lake Tahoe and Disneyland
for the holidays with my
family. I am also going to
hangout with my friends.
I have a tradition with my
friends where we take a New
Year’s hike. We drive up to
Santa Cruz and go hiking for
the day.” - Juan Orantes, first year and sociology major
Local holiday happenings
megan CorCoran
Staff Writer
For college students, the saying “winter is coming” tends to re-ally mean, “finals are coming”. With one week left in the se-mester now is the time to hit the books and do those last few
extra credit assignments.
But it’s also okay to take a break from studying and indulge in the holiday festivities and good cheer.
For those sticking around for a while after the semester comes to an end there are plenty of events and activities that come just once a year to Sonoma County. After Thanksgiving passes, neighborhoods begin to slowly pop up with light displays and epic decorations. What some people may not know is that Rohnert Park has it’s own magical winter wonderland. The Weaver’s Winter Wonderland to be exact.
Located at 1190 Cielo Court, the Weaver’s have been transform-ing their house into a magical display for over 20 years. Every cutout, including the giant castle, is hand-carved and painted by Scott Weaver and his family.
“The Weaver’s Winter Wonderland is breathtaking. There’s so much to look at and there’s even a red sleigh you can take pictures in,” said junior Megan Masek.
Taking four weeks to completely assemble, the house caught the attention of ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight last year and re-sulted in the Weaver’s taking first place and a grand prize of $50,000. The lights are on from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and will be on display until Dec. 31. With the holiday season also comes theatrical plays and events such as “The Nutcracker”. The Santa Rosa Dance Theater is putting on a production of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”, and will feature the Sonoma County Philharmonic.
“Seeing The Nutcracker has always been a holiday tradition for my family, and I can’t wait to hear the Sonoma County Philharmonic play”, said junior Stephanie Light.
The play will run Dec. 18, 19, and 20 at Spreckels Performing Arts Center. For show times and ticket prices see santarosadancethe-ater.com.For those that have always wanted to have a movie-moment horse carriage ride the 28-year Railroad Square tradition is back for this holiday season.
Historic Railroad Square is in the heart of “Old Town” Santa Rosa and free horse carriage rides are taking place every weekend until Christmas. Pick-up is at the depot and hours run 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat and Sun and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
“Located at 1190 Cielo Court the Weaver’s have been transform-
ing their house into a magical dis-play for over 20 years. Every cut-
out, including the giant castle, is hand carved and painted by Scott Weaver and his family.”
SEAWOLVESSPORTS
Courtesy of sonomaseawolves.com
Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015Page
sonomastatestar.com10 Sports
Saturday Dec. 19Women’s
Basketball at The Wolves’ Den
vs. Chico State5:30 p.m.
Men’s Basketball at The Wolves’
Denvs. Chico State
7:30p.m.
Sunday Dec. 20Women’s
Basketball at The Wolves’ Denvs. Maryville
5:00 p.m.
Olivia luchesse
Staff Writer
Have you ever wondered how Sonoma State Ath-letics raises money? How scholarships are paid for? Or, who puts on athletic events?
Well, the answer to each of these questions is the Sonoma State Athletic Association, also known as the SSAA.
The SSAA provides both mental and financial sup-port for intercollegiate athletics at Sonoma State Uni-versity.
Membership is open to alumni, parents, faculty, staff and friends of Sonoma State Seawolf Athletics.
Their goals are to increase corporate funding to the athletics department on campus and develop a program that is visible on both the local and national scale.
They also promote team and individual accom-plishments on campus along with coaching excellence.
The association is ran by former Sonoma State head football coach, Frank Scalercio, who works hand-in-hand with students who are involved in the program as well.
The goal of the students involved is to help put on events for alumni and students in order to raise money
for Sonoma State Athletics. The students are in charge of putting on events such
as Pack The Den, which is meant to bring students to-gether for university spirit and to get more support for Sonoma State sports and athletes.
“I love being involved with SSAA,” said Kate Dal-man. “I was an athlete my whole life so getting to be apart of athletics here has been so much fun.”
Another student that is a part of the SSAA is senior Josh Cantu, a photographer who can be found at most Sonoma State games.
His work with SSAA gives the students and sup-porters a visual on SSU athletics.
This year, Cantu and the SSAA started a new tradi-tion called the “Twelve Days of Seawolves.” Every day
for 12 days in December, a video from each of the men’s and women’s sports teams is posted to the SSAA Face-book page.
In it, athletes express their gratitude for everyone who supports each of the teams that make up Sonoma State Athletics. It gives fans of Sonoma State athletics a chance to get to know the players that represent their unviersity on the field of play.
The objective of the videos, Cantu said, is to “give back and show them all how much we all care about their support. It’s to give them appreciation in a fun and creative way.”
Cantu has done a lot for the marketing side of SSAA as well, and has used his photography and video-mak-ing skills to help this association.
Each student involved has taken on a different role to help this association in their own way.
To view the “12 Days of Seawolves” videos, visit the SSAA – Sonoma State Athletic Association Face-book page.
SSAA is always open to getting more students in-volved and helping the athletics in any way.
If you are interested in getting involved or want to donate to Sonoma State Athletics please Email Frank Scalercio at [email protected] or go to so-nomaseawolves.com
Twelve days of seawolves The Sonoma State Athletic Association finds a way to give back to its supporters
The objective of the videos, Cantu said, is to “give back and
show them all how much we all care about their support.
It’s to give them appreciation in a fun and creative way.”
aubrie TOlliver
Staff Writer
Even we expected to lose, although we didn’t want to admit it.
The odds were stacked against us. We knew it, the other team knew it and the people in the stands knew it.
We were playing in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division II Regional softball tour-nament against our rival, Humboldt State; the team that had beaten us in our four previous meetings (one of those games by ten runs).
Needless to say, when their team hit a grand slam that put them ahead 5-1 in the sec-ond inning it was heartbreaking but expected.
In my experience as an athlete, I have found that playing with the expectation to win is one of the hardest things to do. Playing with no expectations, though, is one of the easiest.
Luckily, that was us.We were the underdogs. We had nothing to
lose, no expectations and no pressure. Humboldt State, on the other hand, in that
same moment, had everything to lose. And with that pressure weighing heavily on their shoulders, they crumbled.
They would only get one more hit for the rest of the game. As for us, in the top of the sixth we hit a grand slam of our own and held on to win by a final score of 5-4.
The “top dogs”, like Humboldt, are usually
the teams that possess the best record, most talent and greatest confidence. All of those traits together would seem to make up an un-stoppable team. But if that were so, then why don’t those types of teams finish their seasons undefeated?
Former NFL running back Archie Griffin answered this question f lawlessly when he fa-mously said, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”
Just like Archie said, the fight is what it ultimately comes down to.
An underdog is constantly being faced with adversity. They may not possess the great-est talent but where they lack in skill they make up for in heart.
A top dog usually doesn’t face much ad-versity; rather, they rely on sheer skill to win their games. Therefore, when faced with strug-gle, they are easily rattled.
So, my question to Archie would be this: Is it possible to posses both the talent of a top dog and the passion and fight of an underdog?
Although Archie wasn’t able to answer my question, I have found somebody who could—the Golden State Warriors.
They are, in every sense of the word, a top dog. The reigning 2015 NBA Champions have some of the greatest players in the league and possibly to ever step on the court.
But even though the Warriors are expect-ed to win, essentially, every game and must play with the pressure of a world champion-ship on the line, they fight.
“We’ve had some battles and, obviously, we’ve had some lopsided victories,” said Ste-phen Curry, the team’s point guard and lead-ing scorer. “But what gets lost in the record is the tough games we’ve had to claw our way out of.”
That is why they see success: they contin-ue to fight as if they were the underdogs. And that is the difference.
Always be the underdog. Even with the odds in your favor and the
expectation to win, every victory in life must be fought for.
That was the difference between my team and Humboldt’s that day: we were fighting. We were fighting every inning, every play and ev-ery pitch during that game.
And when that ball went off of my bat and over the fence with the bases loaded in the bot-tom of the sixth, I realized that being the un-derdog in a hard-fought victory is the greatest kind of victory there is.
The underdog advantage
Always be the underdog. Even with the odds in your favor and the expectation
to win, every victory in life must be fought for.
facebook.com
Sports 11Page
Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015sonomastatestar.com
Women’s Soccer• Nationally Ranked #24 • Overall Record 14-3-3• Undefeated in Conference Play • CCAA Champions• Program Record 14 Shutouts• 9 players received all conference Honors• Coach Emiria Salzmann-Dunn Received CCAA Coach of
the year• Senior Carolyn Greco Received Defensive player of year • Senior Goalkeeper Ashley Luis 958 Minute Scoreless Streak• Senior Margi Osmundson First Team NSCAA All American
Women’s Volleyball• Nationally Ranked #18• Overall Record 26-4• CCAA Champions• 22 Match Winning Streak • 5 Players Received All Conference Honors• Bear Grassl CCAA Coach of the year• Kaitlyn Connolly CCAA Libero of the year
Senior Caylie Seitz (Volleyball)• CCAA Player of the year• D2CCA All west region player of the year• 1st Team AVCA All American • SSU All-Time Leader in Kills, Kills Per Set, Attack Attempts,
Points and Matches Played.• Ranked 2nd all time in Kills in Division II
Women’s Golf • Champion of SSU invitational at Foxtail Golf Course • Senior Sarah Rotter Placed 1st Overall at SSU invitational• 2nd Place Finish in Dixie State Invitational • Finished in Top Ten of every tournament in fall season
Women’s Cross Country • 2nd Place Finish at Humbolt State Invitational. Best Finish
in Program History.• 2nd Place Finish at SSU Invitational. Best Finish in Program
History.• Senior Maria Hurtado Led SSU as Top Finisher in all tourna-
ments• Hurtado was Lone SSU Representative at NCAA West Re-
gional Tournament.
Men’s Soccer• Overall Record of 10-7-2 • Four Players received All CCAA Honors • Senior Brenton Frame led team in goals scored with 7 goals this
season• Sophomore Mitch North Led CCAA in Saves with 90
Men’s Golf • Champion of The SSU Invitational at Foxtail Golf Course• Two top five finishes• Brandon Lee and Nicholas Daniels named GCAA Division II All
American Scholars
COURTESY // sonomaseawolves.com
Senior Soccer player Margi Osmundson knocking in a header.
COURTESY // sonomaseawolves.com
Men’s Basketball 1 2 F
Sonoma State University 33 29 62 (5-4)
Humboldt State University 39 38 77 (6-1)
Sr. David Ahern: 17pts, 3/8 3FG, 1 Ast
Women’s Basketball 1 2 3 4 F
Sonoma State University 12 17 12 16 57 (4-6)
Humboldt State University 11 12 20 22 65 (4-5)
Sr. Hannah Sourek: 14pts, 4 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Ast
Men’s basketball team drops third straight
Aubrie tolliver
Staff Writer
“We’re not broken, but we’re bent,”
That was what Head Coach Pat Fuscaldo had to say after his team dropped their third, consecu-tive conference game Saturday night against Humboldt State in Arcata.
“What we need to do is find a way for us to raise our level of play to a con-sistent level,” said Fuscaldo.
The 77-62 loss to the Lumberjacks slumped the Seawolves record to 5-4 overall and 0-3 in conference while Humboldt improves to 2-1 in the CCAA and 5-1 overall.
Although the ‘Jacks were the first to score in the first half, senior forward James Slade got the ball rolling for the Seawolves after draining a 3-pointer less than one minute into the game.Then, Sonoma found themselves in a hole with eight minutes to go in the first half and down by 16.
An offensive rally, led by senior guard David Ahern, made the defi-cit just six by half time. Ahern scored eight of his 17 points during that time, including three from behind the arc.
After Slade began the second half with a jumper, the Lumberjacks went on to score 11 unanswered points. At the 1:28 mark, Humboldt led by 19, the greatest deficit of the night.
The Seawolves drained three more shots in a last minute effort by the of-fense but it wasn’t enough to triumph over the ‘Jacks.
The buzzer blew and the Sea-wolves’ fate was sealed.
Ahern led his team with 17 points on the night, which was a season-high for him. Junior Nathan Maloney-Benja-min’s six rebounds were also enough to top his team.
Senior center Luke Cochran also had a noteworthy night, contributing 11 points and snatching five balls off the backboard.
The Seawolves have yet to win a game versus a CCAA opponent, losing to UC San Diego, Cal State San Marcos and, now, Humboldt.
Fuscaldo says that his team’s 0-3 start is due in part to opening up their season against some of the toughest conference opponents.
UCSD remains undefeated on the season while San Marcos and Hum-boldt State have dropped just one game each against the CCAA. Each team finds themselves in the top half of the standings.
Fuscaldo says that in order turn the season around, his team must be able to find their A-game.
“Hopefully, practice Tuesday through Friday we’ll find it,” said Fus-caldo. “They know that they are better than they have been playing,”
The team is scheduled to return home Saturday night to play rival Chico State in the last game of 2015. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Wolves’ Den.
The Seawolves are hoping to pull off an upset with the Wildcats being un-beaten in their nine games this season.
STAR // Connor Gibson
Courtney Seda, #6 set the ball for Caylie Seitz, #5.
PhotoPhoto Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2015Page
sonomastatestar.com12
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sonomastatestar.com12
COURTESY // Gustavo Vasquez
Upperclassmen welcomed the incoming fresh-men class at the inaugural “Potenia.”
STAR // Connor Gibson
Sonoma State University junior TJ Perez, #15 broke away from his de-fenders in the weekend home opener. The men’s soccer team finished with a 10-7-2 record.
STAR // Brennan Chin
Students posed for photos with Snoopy during the Jean and Charles Schulz Information Cen-ter’s 10th anniversary celebration.
STAR // Brennan Chin
Pianist Lang Lang performed at the 4th Green Music Center season-opening gala.
STAR // Brennan Chin
Sonoma State President Dr. Ruben Armiñana reflected on his accomplishments at Sonoma State University.
STAR // Nicole Detmers
Tracy Martin addressed Sonoma State students at the “We are all Trayvon“ presentation in the Student Center Ballroom.
STAR // Brennan Chin
Sonoma State University students gathered to celebrate the start of bas-ketball season at the university’s annual Midnite Madness.
STAR // Brennan Chin
YouTube star Jimmy Tatro took a picture with his fans at the FLI HIGH Nightclub after his performance.
STAR // Connor Gibson
Sonoma State University’s volleyball team won 22 consecutive games, ranked 18th nationally, were CCAA regular-season and tournament champions and made it to the opening round of the 2015 NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship.
STAR // Brennan Chin
Sonoma State University dancers performed at the university’s annual Fall Dance Concert held in Evert B. Person Theatre.
A semester through a lens
STAR // Nicole Detmers
Mel (played by Ashlyn Kelley), right, grasps Kate’s (played by Rosemarie Kingfisher) hand during “The Hummingbird Wars”.
STAR // Brennan Chin
Sonoma State Cheerleaders performed at“Midnite Madness.”