Daily Bruin – Page 219

Baseball strikes back against Georgia State to claim victory in series

After a walk-off loss Friday, the Bruins kept the next two games from getting close.

No. 4 UCLA baseball (6-1) lost its first game of the season Friday, falling 4-3 in extra innings against Georgia Tech (3-3). The Bruins responded by winning 8-2 on Saturday and 6-0 on Sunday to take the series.

Game one went back and forth, culminating in Yellow Jacket catcher Kyle McCann launching a walk-off home run to center field off of junior right-hander Kyle Mora in the bottom of the 11th.

“It was a tough, hard-fought game,” said coach John Savage. “We played well on Friday, but we just didn’t come up with the big hit.”

UCLA first took the lead on a sacrifice fly from junior catcher Will McInerny in the second, but Georgia Tech stole the lead back with two runs in the bottom of the inning against sophomore right-hander Zach Pettway. This ended the Bruin pitching staff’s 37-inning streak without an earned run allowed to start the season.

Junior designated hitter Kyle Cuellar tied the game in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly, before Georgia Tech retook the lead off of a solo homer from Luke Waddell in the fifth. The lead lasted all of half an inning, as junior Jack Stronach’s pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the sixth tied the game once again.

The game remained tied at three until McCann’s ball careened off of the batter eye’s five innings later. Mora pitched three scoreless innings of relief before the home run, striking out six.

Savage said the loss Friday added motivation to win Saturday.

“You have to respond,” Savage said. “It’s about bouncing back. … We realized that there was a lot of baseball left in the weekend, and we took advantage of that opportunity.”

The Bruins took control of the game early the next day, building a 6-1 lead through just three innings. Four of those runs came in the third, after a two-run double from junior first baseman Michael Toglia and a two-run home run from freshman center fielder Matt McLain.

It was McLain’s first collegiate home run, after he hit his first double earlier in the game.

UCLA padded its lead in the seventh and ninth innings on a solo homer from junior second baseman Chase Strumpf and a balk by Georgia Tech pitcher Amos Willingham, respectively.

On the mound, junior right-hander Jack Ralston threw five innings of two-run ball to earn the win, while the Bruin bullpen pitched four hitless innings to close out the game.

UCLA continued where it left off on Sunday behind freshman right-hander Jesse Bergin, who threw six shutout innings in his second collegiate start. Bergin has now thrown 11 2/3 innings without giving up an earned run to begin his career.

“It’s really just the tip of the iceberg,” Savage said about Bergin’s potential. “He’s had two good outings, but there’s a lot of work to do. But for a freshman to start off as well as he has is certainly promising.”

The UCLA offense backed Bergin with six runs, including four in the final three innings. After a throwing error and an RBI-single from Toglia put two across in the seventh, the Bruins added another two runs in the ninth on a solo homer from junior shortstop Ryan Kreidler and a bases-loaded walk by sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell.

The Yellow Jackets threatened to close the gap in the seventh, loading the bases against redshirt senior right-hander Nathan Hadley. However, Hadley retired the next batter on a groundout to escape the inning and hold onto the shutout.

In total, UCLA outscored Georgia Tech 14-2 and racked up 25 hits in the two games after the extra innings loss.

“I think this weekend was a good couple games on the road for us,” Savage said. “We needed to get on the road and see where we’re at. It’s a different mindset, a different feeling being on the road, and I think we responded well from Friday’s loss.”

UCLA will next head to Northridge, California, to play CSUN on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

UCLA softball continues 14-game winning streak with string of tournament wins

The Bruins showed no mercy this weekend.

No. 2 UCLA softball (14-0) won all five of its games this weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, three of which were mercy-rule victories. The weekend was capped off with a no-hitter by freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo, her second of the season so far.

“I really wasn’t even thinking about it,” Faraimo said. “I was just thinking about doing my best. … I’m really proud of my team and I think we really came together well today.”

After Thursday’s game against No. 23 Texas A&M was rained out, UCLA faced No. 4 Oklahoma (13-2) on Friday. The Sooners started with a solo home run in the second, but the Bruins would take it from there.

Three consecutive singles in the third loaded the bases for redshirt sophomore outfielder Aaliyah Jordan, whose double to bring them all in gave the Bruins a 3-1 lead they would ride to an eventual 7-1 victory.

Ten UCLA players combined for 14 hits in its 11-3 win over Missouri (9-5). Four players had at least two hits, and the Bruins were able to take advantage of five errors by the Tigers to score nine unearned runs in the six inning mercy-rule victory.

Of the 42 runs the Bruins scored over the weekend’s five games, 16 were unearned – a result of 16 errors by their opponents.

“We were playing more aggressive in general, so there was an opportunity we had to take advantage of some miscues,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “We also created some by being aggressive with our base running.”

Both of UCLA’s games Saturday were also mercy-rule victories – 9-1 against Nebraska (8-5) and 12-4 versus No. 20 Kentucky (9-7) – both in six innings. Jordan and sophomore infielder Briana Perez each had two hits in both games, and sophomore pitcher Holly Azevedo notched a three-hitter complete game win against Nebraska.

Redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia picked up the win in relief against Kentucky after Faraimo was pulled in the first inning when she gave up two runs.

“Staying nice and relaxed through the whole game is a big thing for our team,” said infielder Brianna Tautalafua. “Having our backs, … having someone come off the bench and have that opportunity is also key for us.”

Junior outfielder Bubba Nickles recorded five hits, including a double, a triple and two homes runs to add to her team-leading total of six on the season.

Nickles extended her hitting streak to 24 games before it ended in Sunday’s game against Colorado State. The streak, dating back to the end of last season, was the fourth-longest hitting streak in UCLA history.

Faraimo recorded her second career no-hitter Sunday in a 3-0 victory versus Colorado State (9-4), just eight days after her first against Fresno State. She only gave up three base runners on two errors and a hit-by-pitch, while striking out nine.

Inouye-Perez said after Faraimo was pulled out in the first inning against Kentucky, she just wanted to team to have the pitcher’s back.

“I told Megan and I told the team, today would be a great opportunity for the team to have Megan’s back, to be able to play strong behind her knowing that Megan’s going to be on a mission,” Inouye-Perez said. “Every day she goes out there and is planning to throw that no-no.”

The Bruins will be back on the road next week at the Judi Garman Classic, starting with a Wednesday night game against No. 3 Florida in Fullerton, California.

91st Academy Awards welcomes diversity in selection of winners

Inclusivity and the Academy haven’t exactly gone hand-in-hand over the last 90 years. But Sunday’s Oscars ceremony may indicate a stark shift in trend.

The 2019 show marks an unparalleled triumph for African-Americans in the industry. It set the record for most individual black winners, and also placed emphasis on films like “Green Book,” “BlacKkKlansman” and “Black Panther,” all of which are built around racial tensions.

While “Bohemian Rhapsody” may have racked up the most trophies, “Green Book” and “Black Panther” earned three wins each. The former was this year’s best picture, while the latter dominated the technical categories, snagging accolades in costume design, production design and musical score.

Costume designer Ruth Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler were both the first African-Americans to win in their respective categories. Backstage after the show, Carter expressed what her victory implies for the future of other black creators.

“Finally, the door is wide open,” said the former UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Copley Center’s Swarovski Designer-in-Residence. “I hope through my example this means that there is hope, and other people can come on in and win an Oscar just like I did.”

Both supporting role awards were also given to black actors – Regina King for “If Beale Street Could Talk” and Mahershala Ali for “Green Book.” This marks the second nomination and win for Ali, whose career has grown exponentially since his 2017 win for “Moonlight.”

“I feel fortunate to have been nominated,” Ali said. “To be the one that was chosen to get to hold this trophy again, it’s not something that I take lightly.”

But representation stretched far beyond the black community. Among the Academy’s best-loved films was also “Roma,” the first foreign language film nominated in the best picture category since 2012. Alfonso Cuarón sauntered backstage with three gold statues, including one for best director, giving him a total of 10 Oscar wins thus far. Cuarón explained that Yalitza Aparicio, the first indigenous American best actress nominee, was the ideal lead for his film, and dedicated the art house project to his homeland.

“This film wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t from Mexico,” he said. “I would not be here if it was not for Mexico.”

Though it lacked a host, the ceremony also made sure to spotlight diversity with co-presenters like Chadwick Boseman and Constance Wu, who headlined 2018’s two most iconic films in terms of representation. Moreover, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” secured best animated feature, portraying the first on-screen Afro-Latino superhero, and Nina Hartstone made history as the first woman to win in the sound editing category for her work on “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

The Freddie Mercury biopic also received awards for sound mixing, film editing and, of course, best actor. Its overall success was perhaps impending after the Golden Globes, and Malek’s acclaimed method acting made him the front-runner among other male leads.

An unprecedented victory, however, was that of Olivia Colman for best actress in a leading role. Critics’ lauding of Glenn Close in “The Wife” and Lady Gaga’s status as a prime fan favorite assured Colman’s inaugural win wasn’t imminent.

[Related: 2019 Oscars predictions]

The show closed with the “Green Book” cast and crew congregating to accept their prize. Backstage, they addressed the speculation that their film stood no chance in the best picture race; amid critics placing bets on “Roma” and “Vice,” Peter Farrelly’s segregation-era film seemed like an unlikely champion.

“It was discouraging,” said producer Jim Burke. “But we always believed in the film.”

Drama of human connection, cultural divides to play out in theater production

A woman’s relationships with her mother and girlfriend show that those closest to you are not always the most understanding.

The effects of war on personal relationships is the focus of “Unseen,” which runs from Thursday until March 2 in Macgowan Hall. The play follows war photographer Mia and her girlfriend Derya in Istanbul after Mia is found unconscious at the location of a massacre. When Mia’s mother, Jane, rushes from America to her daughter’s aid, the three women must manage their personal connections amid the ongoing war. Director Jean Carlo Yunen, a second-year MFA student, said the play shows how war can cause tension and misunderstanding among people who perceive it differently.

“The core of (the play) is about these three women who have a hard time connecting to each other, and how to make someone really see you – how to go beyond all this hurt that you might have,” Yunen said. “To me, it is a love story and it’s about how to truly, truly connect with someone.”

In the play, Turkey serves as the gate between the Middle East and the West, with Mia herself teetering between the safety of being a photographer documenting the imminent danger surrounding her but not directly partaking in it, Yunen said. The three women’s nationalities – Mia and Jane hail from America, whereas Derya is Turkish – affect how each perceives the conflict in Turkey because of their upbringings and understandings of privilege, Yunen said. This causes turmoil between the three women as they try to comprehend each person’s perspective, Yunen added.

Fourth-year theater student Eliza Faloona, who portrays Mia’s mother, said one of the play’s major conflicts occurs between Mia and Derya. At one point, Derya tells Mia that the people of Istanbul don’t need white women telling them how oppressed they are, causing Mia to grapple with justifying her purpose in Istanbul as a war photographer, Faloona said. Mia experiences guilt because of the suffering she witnesses as a war photographer, which Yunen said leads her to shield herself from what she sees, which makes it harder for her to accept others into her life.

Faloona said much of the play also focuses on how Mia is impacted by the suffering around her. Yunen said “Unseen” mostly centers on how Mia’s experience of photographing war affects how she feels as a person who has the privilege to be able to leave behind war-torn areas and the people she photographs.

Meanwhile, Jane reflects the stereotypical tourist who is thrust into an unfamiliar culture, said first-year theater student and stage manager Tatum Anderson. There are moments where Jane learns new information about cultures she is unfamiliar with, such as Arabic poetry, which makes it harder for her to understand Mia’s circumstances in Istanbul, Anderson said. Jane has difficulty comprehending the violence in Istanbul – a world so separate from her own – which Faloona said makes it difficult for her to understand why her daughter willingly puts herself in such danger.

“I hope that audience members will take away the message of acceptance and being able to accept love and think that you are deserving of love as a person, as well as awareness of your surroundings and your privilege and your background,” Anderson said.

“I think that the director, (Yunen), has done a great job of really fine-tuning each character and their motives and their circumstances and where they’ve come from in life,” Anderson said. “I think that’s always something that is a challenge but really hits the audience hard when you can see these characters’ backgrounds without it being in the dialogue and the text.”

Graduate student explores concept of framing and perception in art exhibition

Thinking outside the box, Dalena Tran will place her audience inside one, she said.

Tran, a graduate student, said the idea of framing – or putting things into focus – is at the center of her solo art exhibition, titled “mornal : stasis – slowing down a mis-ordering of normal.” The exhibition will be open Tuesday and Wednesday at UCLA’s Broad Art Center. Tran said the concept of framing prevents the audience from just observing art, and instead allows for a relationship between the audience and the installation.

“When things are put into a frame … people are able to contemplate the context of the image very differently,” Tran said. “Because people are forced to look at the things that are emphasized in a frame, whether it be a door, a window or a border, it situates the imagination to confront reality in a specific way.”

Using audiovisuals, her exhibit intends to replicate mundane natural sceneries in a way that makes it feel as if the viewer is actually there, she said. Isla Hansen, an assistant professor in the design media arts program and Tran’s exhibition advisor, said the piece includes projections of animated landscapes. Obvious within the exhibition, these three projections surround the audience in a room. Each one shows a window into an outdoor space, such as a jungle or an ocean. Hansen said Tran’s use of framing also tells the story of how digital media affects humanity.

“I like that this represents what technologies do for us in a society,” Hansen said. “It’s as if this screen that we have on us all the time pulls us into another world technologically, and I can tell that’s what (Tran) is interested in.”

Coupled with the notion of framing is the use of irony, she said. The clashing factors of infinite and definite time appear in the installation in the form of motion, with the audience looking at moving landscapes outside windows. The movements and sounds involved in Tran’s artwork will be in a continuous loop, which Tran said is meant to leave audiences feeling stuck in a never-ending experience.

Tran hopes to transform what seem like common experiences by presenting them in ways that change the audience’s perception. She said the audience can interpret it any way it wants, but must be immersed in the space to get the full effect.

“There’s an uncanniness of being able to see adjacent landscapes that you rarely see in the same house, because it’s not often that you look out the window and see a jungle on one side but an ocean on the other,” Hansen said.

Hirad Sab, Tran’s partner and a fellow graduate student at UCLA’s Design Media Arts program, said as a viewer, there is a sense of ambiguity about the piece in terms of its visual language. He said from what Tran sets up for the audience, many will interpret it differently.

“By that virtue, I think it allows the observer to draw their own conclusions,” Sab said. “It really pushes me to think about the human footprints and to analyze whether or not we are as dissociated and disconnected as we think we are from the rest of the environment that we inhabit.”

The installation will be Tran’s first as a graduate student in the design media arts program. It will also be the first time that her work is publicly displayed. Inspired by words on paper, she said she will bring a simulated reality to the audience. She said she wants viewers to see themselves within her work, and specifically within the frames.

“I want for people to be more realizing of how much space they take up when they’re there,” she said. “My idea is that you, as a viewer, go in, and you end up facilitating yourself within the space through the art that replicates a real physical experience.”

Upcoming student film tells a ghost story centered on childlike innocence

This post was updated Feb. 26 at 4:48 p.m.

An Instagram comic depicting a ghost intent on taking out the trash inspired the plot of Yimeng Yuan’s video, “The Melancholy of March.”

Jumping off the idea of an adorable ghost, the fourth-year art history student is directing a three-minute video following a father and his 8-year-old child on a picnic. Unbeknownst to the father trying to enjoy the excursion, his child interacts with a ghost of the same age. Despite featuring a ghost, Yuan said the film takes a lighthearted tone through the children’s interactions while exploring a strained father-child relationship.

“The (child) can see the ghost, (which is) a sign of innocence,” Yuan said. “He believes in something that might exist but might not exist as well, but the father, at his age, (is) losing that … version of reality.”

To heighten the film’s surreal nature, Yuan chose to have the ghost appear no different than the child. However, the father cannot see the ghost and the ghost does not appear in shots with him.

Producer Laze Huang said the film shows that the ghost is otherworldly. However, the audience will not realize until a later scene that the ghost is not another child when it approaches a mirror and produces no reflection, said the fourth-year electrical engineering student.

“We’re just using that as our way of telling the audience that (the ghost is) different than another person,” Huang said.

Cinematographer and Chapman graduate film production student Sherry Qian said she plans to work with natural light in the outdoor picnic scene to create saturated colors to help create a colorful, lighthearted tone. Qian said the crew chose to film the ghost and the child at their own height, rather than from the elevated position of an adult, to bring the audience into their world. Utilizing wide shots will also make the actors appear even smaller than they are, heightening the sense of surrealism, Qian said.

To shy away from potentially darker undertones that often accompany ghost stories, Huang said actors will utilize subtle facial expressions during misunderstandings between the father and the child. For example, the child and the father argue over a plate, but will not act in an over-the-top manner, to stray from an over-the-top portrayal.

The father-child relationship overall is awkward, as the father cannot find words to express his love for his child. Yuan said this is paralleled by the decision to eschew dialogue entirely from the film. The lack of dialogue paired with minimal facial expressions also adds to the dreamlike quality by removing a major mode of communication. The child, whose youth fosters creativity and imagination, is able to see the ghost attempting to get the attention of the father who no longer exists in this childlike state, Yuan said.

“He’s inexperienced, and the father also is a shy human being so he does not talk much and he does not act much,” Yuan said. “He cares about the kid but he does not know how to verbally express it, and that makes the tension between them a little bit awkward.”

The lack of a mother figure also complicates the relationship between the father and his child, Yuan said. The title is inspired by a painting entitled “Mystery and Melancholy of a Street,” which depicts a lone child playing in a street. Yuan said she wanted to take a more lighthearted spin on what she considers a somber painting by focusing on the child’s and the ghost’s interactions. The title’s initials also read MOM, which emphasizes the absence of a mother figure.

Although the video does not portray a complete family, the most pervasive channel of lightheartedness comes from the interaction between the child and the ghost. Their normalcy distracts from potentially darker tones associated with death and ghosts, Huang said.

“The story itself is not going to be very straightforward. It’s a bit mysterious because the audience may not get the essence of the story right away,” Qian said. “They might have a different interpretation of the story.”

ASUCLA Board of Directors recap – Feb. 22

Associated Students UCLA is a multimillion-dollar organization that provides student services and activities the university does not fund. It oversees the Undergraduate Students Association Council, Graduate Students Association, Communications Board and Services & Enterprises. ASUCLA Board of Directors meetings are monthly and open to the public.

Executive report:

ASUCLA Executive Director Pouria Abbassi said ASUCLA renovated the Kerckhoff Coffee House message board and the ASUCLA human resources office.

Abbassi said the UCLA Store will be holding a red-tag clearance sale March 11 to March 15. He added that employee appreciation days will be March 13 to March 15, during which employees will receive a 33 percent discount on items for which they would normally receive a 20 percent discount.

Abbassi and a presenter said ASUCLA will host a survey event March 15, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., called #BruinUp Eats, in which UCLA students will be asked to taste potential new menu items to be added to Lu Valle Commons. The presenter added that advertising for the event will include mascots dressed as birds riding Bird scooters to promote the event’s wings menu option.

Cynthia Holmes, director of UCLA Trademarks and Licensing, said ASUCLA met with campus leaders to discuss UCLA trademark infringement on and off campus. Abassi added that the ASUCLA board of directors service committee was working on a video encouraging customers and clients to support ethical labor practices.

Abbassi said ASUCLA will be hosting an Oscars viewing party on the A-Level of Ackerman Union at 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Abbassi said ASUCLA will be hosting a casino night April 26 on Kerckhoff patio.

Abbassi said ASUCLA will be holding a light show on Kerckhoff patio May 18, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., for the first day of the UCLA Centennial Celebration. He added that alumni will be hosting brunch and dinner, and ASUCLA food trucks will be parked nearby.

A presenter said ASUCLA is entering the beta stages for a new online ordering and pickup app for ASUCLA restaurants.

Committee reports:

Undergraduate representative Aidan Arasasingham said the ASUCLA board of directors services committee met with a consultant to discuss methods for improving restaurant customer service and student-employee training. He added that Panda Express is planning to put in a to-go kiosk at its location on the first floor of Ackerman.

Graduate student representative Avi Oved said the personnel committee is working with UCPath staff to resolve errors in the payroll system, and is developing a reporting system to ensure UCPath accuracy. He added that the committee was continuing a compensation study to compare ASUCLA employee pay to fair market values.

Financial statements:

Abbassi said ASUCLA’s gross income for January was $5.6 million, $200,000 greater than the gross income of December.

The greater income was the result of improved licensing and sales performance, Abbassi said. He added that the textbook rental program and sale of graduation accessories and apparel had also done well, but restaurant traffic and donor contributions dropped.

Abbassi said the Wednesday financial reports showed a 9 percent drop in gross income for the month so far. He said this was likely due to slower business caused by the rain, and recommended ASUCLA consider measures such as implementing more sheltered seating areas.

Action items:

The board approved changes to ASUCLA’s cash reserve policy that require a percentage of income be set aside for all prior and current board-approved operations and assets, and another percentage be set aside for emergencies.

The board approved the tentative budget assumptions for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

The board moved discussion of ASUCLA trademarks and licensing into executive session.