Bruin comedians to stand up against other schools at Laugh Bowl

The Laugh Bowl tradition will be resurrected Friday at UCLA.

The comedy event was an annual occurrence until 2014, but disappeared until the Student Committee for the Arts brought it back.

The event, which will take place in the Royce Hall west lobby, is a competition between stand-up comedians from UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and USC. Three comedians will represent each school, and the winner will be chosen by members of the Los Angeles comedy group, the Groundlings. The winner of the competition will have the choice of performing at either the Hollywood Improv or the Irvine Improv. UCLA students James Chaney, Viva Rose and Nasir Ahmed will perform at the event, each performing comedy inspired by topics that excite or bother them.

Carl Hatch, a third-year English student, said the performers’ diverse backgrounds in the field makes the event an accurate representation of the university’s comedy scene.

James Chaney

The Laugh Bowl will mark James Chaney’s first time performing comedy to people other than friends and family.

Chaney, a third-year communication student, said he chose to audition for the Laugh Bowl to finally give stand-up comedy a shot. His sister, Eva Madrano, said he generally speaks about topics everybody can relate to – Netflix and binging culture or the Oscars and snubbed nominees, for instance. Chaney said his style of comedy is observational – he will write down any idea that pops into his head and try to make a joke out of it.

“A lot of the bits I get come from spur of the moment. I’ll think of something and I’ll jot it down on my phone,” Chaney said. “Just practicing and seeing what comes out.”

Because of his past experience performing in musicals, he is not nervous about being on stage, even though it will be his first time performing comedy in front of strangers, he said. His love for stand-up comedy is what pushed him to exit his comfort zone.

“Just the fact that I’m here in the first place is further than I thought. The most exciting part, I think, is getting to represent UCLA,” Chaney said. “I thought that was really sweet.”

Viva Rose

Viva Rose is the only female representing UCLA in the competition, but that doesn’t surprise her, she said.

Rose, a third-year theater student, said she had practiced comedy acting and sketch writing before she began writing stand-up two years ago. She spent the last year performing at open mics, and she said the lineup was usually comprised entirely of men who expected her not to be funny. She said one time the other male comedians were all complimenting each others’ performances on stage. One went up to her and asked if she was new to comedy, then proceeded to give her unsolicited advice, despite him being younger.

Last year, Rose attended a class in Sherman Oaks, California, called Pretty, Funny Women, which taught women how to thrive in the stand-up world. Kaitlyn Gonzalez, another theater student in the course, said Rose’s comedy is witty and dry, and touches on topics such as being Jewish and having two lesbian mothers.

Rose said she values storytelling in her sets, and sometimes rants about the issues she faces in her day-to-day life. For example, she said the annoyance of being around actors all day has given her a substantial amount of material.

“I’d say I try to be as close to my personality as possible. It’s easy to find patterns you tend to talk a lot about, and opinions you have,” Rose said. “I feel like you get more from it when you really get to know a person and care about personal experiences, but there are jokes throughout it.”

Nasir Ahmed

Nasir Ahmed has his eyes on the prize: performing at Hollywood Improv, his favorite comedy club in Los Angeles.

Ahmed, a third-year neuroscience student, said that he has been performing at open mics at The Improv Space in Westwood, but the venue feels too close to home and he wants to test his material in front of a new audience.

His roommate of three years, Paul Monteforte, said that for a long time, Ahmed has written jokes and tried them out on him. Although he has heard many good and bad jokes from him, Monteforte said Ahmed is undeniably a likable performer who presents himself confidently on stage. He said he heard Ahmed might have a new joke about him, so he feels encouraged to watch his next performance.

Despite his objective of winning, Ahmed said he is not nervous to perform in front of the judges. He learned early on that worrying about whoever is in the audience can ruin a set. Once he gets on stage, he said it feels like a natural conversation. He said that one technique he uses is taking note of the audience’s reaction to his jokes. If they respond well to one joke, he will spend more time on it, making it more of a dialogue between him and the crowd.

“You’re always trying to venture out and see if you can actually make people laugh who aren’t on your side already,” Ahmed said. “People who are just there for a show, … if you can get them to laugh, that means you’re actually funny.”

Alumnus Rickey Minor discusses his experience working backstage for Grammys

For 61 years, the Grammy Awards has provided viewers with often unforgettable performances from some of the biggest stars in the music industry.

For many of these iconic Grammy moments, Rickey Minor, a UCLA alumnus and member of the Recording Academy, sat backstage helping to produce what viewers saw on television.

From 2011 to 2013, Minor served as bandleader on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” He has also served as musical director for international tours by Whitney Houston, among others, and has helped to produce musical performances for the Super Bowl, the NAACP Image Awards and the Grammy Awards. The Daily Bruin talked with Minor about his thoughts on what it’s like to be a member of the Academy, recent changes in the awards show and how the landscape of the music industry is evolving.

Daily Bruin: When did you become a member of the Academy and what was it like when you joined?

Rickey Minor: I joined the musician’s union in 1979, and I probably joined the Academy around ’89. Back then, you needed credits to join, and when I had the proper amount of credits, I applied and I got in. I didn’t know what the Academy really stood for until I got in. 1982 was my first time performing at the show with Gladys Knight and the Grammy orchestra. In 1987, I put on Whitney Houston’s performance at the Grammys. After joining, I started getting involved more in the Academy. … I focused on education, outreach and working with the Grammy Museum to pursue its goals.

DB: Since becoming a member of the Academy, what sorts of changes have you noticed in the genres of music and artists nominated over the years?

RM: The Academy now recognizes all forms of music. Award categories have really changed over the years. For example, we went from best male pop artist and best female pop artist to now we have just best pop artist, because it should just be the best performer. The way music has changed, there is now a lot more collaborations where the hook and chorus of a song are sang by different people. In an effort to stay relevant, the show and the categories have to change with how music is changing.

DB: What does the Academy look for when they nominate and vote on artists and music?

RM: The Academy looks for excellence. Did the artist make an impact with their music? Did it resonate? Everyone has their favorites. People are going to vote for their favorite songs over others that might be better because they are their favorites.

DB: How do you personally balance popularity over perceived quality when you vote for the awards?

RM: There is so much content now, who has the time to listen to all of the nominees? With streaming, anyone can put out music pretty easily now. The problem though is that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good. There is a lot of bad music released now – you know, poorly produced, poorly sung, just bad-sounding music. The popular music typically is going to be the music with better production, and so it is usually going to sound better. And again, no one can listen to everything that’s put out, and anyone who claims they’ve listened to all the music that’s nominated – I would want to put them to a lie detector test.

DB: How do you think the recent expansion of the General Field categories from five to eight nominees will affect the outcome of these categories?

RM: In general, the people are going to vote for who they vote for. When the votes are tallied, the majority will gravitate to who would have won anyways. They had to expand it. The numbers show it’s changing. The rise in the number of submissions is based on how much great work is being done today.

Throwback Thursday: Environmental scientist voices major concerns about carbon emission in 1989

By the mid-1980s, the general scientific and political consensus on climate change was that it is in fact, a major problem.

While our wealth of knowledge has grown significantly since the Daily Bruin ran an article back in 1989 outlining a study made public in January of that year, exploring the basic biological and economic concerns surrounding global warming.

“The greenhouse effect is the most culturally threatening problem in the world today,” said Joe Shinn, a lab scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

While climate change and its effects are certainly more well-documented today, scientists in the late ’80s were still trying to fully comprehend the basic consequences it would have on plant life. The article delved into the discoveries on the relationship between photosynthesis and excess carbon dioxide.

Notably, Shinn discussed the overall negative impact of greenhouse gases, which was, at the time becoming a hot topic in the media; in his experiments, scientists found that plants exposed to 300 parts per million or more of carbon dioxide became sickly. They worried the most about plants in “unmanaged systems” such as forests. An increase in carbon dioxide emissions was expected to harm acres of plants native to California dramatically; however, it was predicted that cold, northern regions like Siberia would grow warmer and as a result more fit for agriculture.

The science surrounding climate change has only grown more relevant since the article ran.

Dramatic changes in weather have recently gained attention nationwide – the polar vortex that struck the American Midwest showed record low temperatures, with some areas dipping down to 50 degrees below zero. According to an article in WGBH radio, it’s likely that these intense temperatures were a result of climate change: As temperatures rise in the Arctic, chaotic weather patterns can be expected.

A few months ago, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report explaining that in order to neutralize carbon emissions by the year 2050, the global releases must be slashed by 40 to 50 percent over the next 12 years.

Just a year before that report was released, President Trump publicly opposed the Paris Climate Accord. This deal was engineered to hold all signatory countries accountable for their business practices and consequent emissions and environmental impact.

And students at UCLA apparently are not doing a great job at addressing their part of the problem, either, according to a recent report from UCLA Transportation. The nearly 11,000 Ubers and Lyfts circling the campus each week are only adding to the emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Simply put, a lot has happened in 30 years, but one thing is for certain: The implications for culturally ignoring a concern expressed so many years ago are huge.

“I’m affected tremendously and have a fatal feeling (about the carbon dioxide increase),” Shinn said. “We can’t control the the carbon dioxide production and we have little hope of ever controlling it.”

Michaela Onyenwere nails a balance of focus and fun on and off the court

Michaela Onyenwere almost always has her nails done.

“I love getting my nails done because I don’t like looking bare,” said the sophomore forward. “I just feel like when they’re plain, they’re boring.”

Whether it’s manicures or pedicures, Onyenwere – who is averaging a team-high 17.1 points for UCLA women’s basketball this season – goes to the nail salon regularly.

Usually, pink is her go-to color.

“I like having a color that represents me and how I’m feeling at the time,” Onyenwere said.

A Close relationship

Onyenwere enjoys getting her nails done with some of her teammates, but she has recently made an effort to drag coach Cori Close along as well.

“If you really want to connect with kids, earn the right to be heard by going into their areas of interest,” Close said. “So I tried – in the offseason – to use that as an opportunity.”

When the Bruins returned back to campus for Summer Session C in August, Close got her first-ever manicure with Onyenwere in Westwood. But while the sophomore finally got her coach to adopt her beauty routines, Close had one request.

“She wasn’t shooting free throws very well,” Close said. “So I threatened her that if she didn’t start shooting her free throws better, I was going to make her cut her nails.”

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Whether it’s going with her teammates, or even with coach Cori Close, Onyenwere loves to go to the salon to get her nails done. But when the forward was shooting below 60 percent from the free-throw line during nonconference play, Close threatened to cut them. (Axel Lopez/Assistant Photo editor)

Onyenwere said at the time, she had acrylic nails a little bit longer than her natural nails. The forward went just 11-of-20 from the free-throw line during the Bruins’ first eight games of the season.

And then she gave in.

“She swears that (the acrylics) were the reason (for my free throw percentage),” Onyenwere said. “I had them for like four or five refills, so I was just like, ‘Fine, whatever.’ Ever since then, my free throw percentage has gone up.”

Onyenwere went 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in UCLA’s win over Fresno State on Dec. 7 – the Bruins’ first game after she ditched the acrylics. Since then, she has shot 91.5 percent from the charity stripe – a Pac-12 best during conference play among players who have attempted at least 20.

The former McDonald’s All-American said spending time with Close both on and off the court made her realize UCLA has been a unique experience.

“It’s really important to have a good relationship with your head coach,” Onyenwere said. “I’m so grateful because some programs aren’t like that.”

An exuberant personality

Even without acrylics, Onyenwere’s flashy nail colors are just a small part of her bubbly personality – one that resonates in basketball and beyond.

The 2017-2018 Pac-12 All-Freshman team member is currently one of seven players in the conference with six games of 25 points or more, and ranks second in the conference in offensive rebounds per game.

“She goes at such a high work rate,” Close said. “Our heart rate monitors (measure) the amount of steps she takes and the force with which she jumps, (and it’s) higher than anyone else on the team.”

But the energy Onyenwere exerts doesn’t end when she walks off the court. She often dances during stretches, leads pregame hype circles and cheers the loudest on the bench.

Onyenwere – known by her teammates for her smooth moves – has also sometimes convinced Close to dance along.

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(Liz Ketcham/Assistant Photo editor)

“She just brings this effusive joy and hilarious flamboyance to whatever she does,” Close said. “Not in an arrogant way, but in a charismatic way. She’s just someone that everyone likes to be around.”

Whether it’s dancing in the locker room after making the Elite Eight or dancing on the bus after defeating Arizona in triple overtime, Close said she feels obligated to participate due to Onyenwere’s infectious humor.

“It’s just become this thing where you get to make fun of your really terrible dancing head coach anytime you have a big win,” Close said. “But I think that’s fun because it’s a way for me to connect to them.”

Over the years, Close has mastered the Milly Rock, the Floss and even the “In My Feelings” challenge.

“I genuinely love (Close) and I love who she is as a person,” Onyenwere said. “Even if it’s a stupid dance, she has become so comfortable with us, and that’s something you love to have in your head coach.”

Sophomore forward Lauryn Miller – Onyenwere’s roommate – said she gets to experience Onyenwere’s high-spirited personality at home too.

“The energy everyone sees on the court – that’s pretty much her at all times,” Miller said.

Fear of the spotlight

Despite Onyenwere’s animated persona, the Colorado native hates attention – especially when it comes to basketball.

The three-time Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year averaged 20.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game during her senior year of high school. Onyenwere was receiving offers from top basketball programs around the country, to the point where it got overwhelming.

“I did not like the recruiting process at all,” Onyenwere said. “It was just a lot for me to have that much attention. But for me, mostly it was the relationships that I had built with my coaches (because) I felt really close to them even before I got (to UCLA).”

As a freshman at UCLA, Onyenwere averaged 6.9 points in 17.1 minutes per game off the bench.

She got her first career start against Seton Hall on Dec. 17, 2017, where she scored the first eight of UCLA’s nine points in the Bruins’ eventual win over the Pirates.

But Onyenwere asked Close to never start her again for the rest of the season.

“She just didn’t want to be in that starting role,” Close said. “She thought she would be more effective for the sake of the team coming off the bench.”

When Onyenwere logged 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench against Utah for her second career double-double a month later, she did everything she could to avoid doing a Pac-12 Networks postgame interview.

“We’ll talk all the time when she’ll have a big game, and if that’s the game we lost, it doesn’t matter to her,” Miller said. “And so that’s always her big thing, it’s always team first.”

Developing her game

Onyenwere said she isn’t quite sure where she gets her confidence from.

But for the sophomore forward, a lot has changed.

“I think last year I was a little bit more hesitant to do things,” Onyenwere said. “I was kind of more worried about not messing up. It was kind of a hard shift for me, but once I got it down, it was easy to play free and just have fun.”

Onyenwere has learned to filter out the attention in order to focus on improving her game.

The forward – who went just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc in 35 games last season – is now shooting 41.9 percent from deep during conference play.

“I’ve been practicing my outside game a lot because I just wanted to expand my game and not just be a one-dimensional player,” Onyenwere said. “A good player has to be able to shoot free throws, shoot midrange, shoot 3s and also drive, so just expanding my toolbox is something that is going to help not only me, but my team.”

The Bruins’ 3-5 start to the 2018-2019 season made it seem like they would fully take a plunge after graduating a decorated senior class. But UCLA is now tied for fifth in a conference with five top-25 teams and has wiggled its way into the March Madness conversation.

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Onyenwere usually likes to get her nails done in pink, but ever since switching to blue, the Bruins have gone 4-0 during Pac-12 play. (Axel Lopez/Assistant Photo editor)

On Friday, Onyenwere and the Bruins will travel to Colorado for an opportunity to win their fifth consecutive game in front of her hometown crowd.

But her nails won’t be pink.

“It’s hard for me to stray away from pink,” Onyenwere said. “But I got blue this time. And since then, we’re (4-0), so I think I might keep it for a while.”

Men’s volleyball to begin conference play with renewed focus against Stanford, BYU

The Bruins are coming home to begin conference play.

No. 4 UCLA men’s volleyball (8-2) will host No. 9 Stanford (7-3) and No. 7 BYU (4-3, 0-1 MPSF) at home Thursday and Saturday, respectively. These will be the first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches of the season for the Bruins.

UCLA returns home from its Midwest road trip with two wins – each lasting four sets – against No. 8 Loyola Chicago (7-3) and No. 10 Lewis (7-4). The Bruins had three players record double-digit kills in each match, and averaged 9.5 blocks and a .372 hitting percentage over both matches.

Junior middle blocker Daenan Gyimah said UCLA hopes to avoid slow starts in their upcoming matches, after trailing by as many as six and seven points in the opening sets against Loyola Chicago and Lewis, respectively.

“We always get off to slow starts,” Gyimah said. “We’re just not dialed in on the game plan early enough, and other teams just always come out swinging first and we’re on our heels.”

The Bruins defeated the Cardinal in all three of their matchups last season, holding them below a .300 hitting percentage each match. Stanford lost its past two matches in straight sets, both against No. 2 Hawai’i (5-0). Stanford opposite Jaylen Jasper has led the Cardinal this season with 133 kills and 10 service aces.

UCLA earned split results from its four matches against BYU last season, averaging a .289 hitting percentage overall. This will be a rematch of the 2018 NCAA semifinal game, where the Bruins recorded 12 blocks, seven aces and hit for .336 compared to the Cougars’ 7.5 blocks, zero aces and .320 hitting percentage.

BYU has lost its last three games, two against No. 6 UC Santa Barbara (9-3) and one against Pepperdine (7-2, 1-0 MPSF), after winning its first four matches. The BYU Cougars are led by opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez – who recorded 19 kills in the semifinal game against UCLA – and has a team-high 100 kills on the season.

Coach John Speraw said the Bruins plan to be more aggressive on the offensive end to put more pressure on their opponents.

“At the end of the day, we’d like to get them in some passing trouble and serve tough, which is a big strength of this team, and if that puts them in difficult positions, that’ll help us,” Speraw said.

UCLA posted a 9-3 conference record last season, with its three losses to Pepperdine, BYU and USC. Senior setter Micah Ma’a said the Bruins will focus on each game individually at the start of conference play.

“Take each game at a time,” Ma’a said. “Try to be the best team we can be night in and night out and so we can get wins earlier in the season because these wins definitely matter.”

Speraw said UCLA will not approach conference games differently and hopes the team will improve with every match.

“I don’t know that there’s too much of a difference. Just another team that we’re going to have to learn and understand,” Speraw said. “These are all good teams and we still have to get better so it’s a good opportunity for us to do that.”

Softball looks to start season strong with new and returning talent

Seven months ago, the Bruins were four outs away from advancing to the Women’s College World Series Finals.

After losing to the eventual champion Florida State in the semifinals, UCLA softball is now back and set to start the new season atop the ESPN.com rankings.

“This team has great athleticism, great energy and a fire in their gut,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “We’re at that point in January, one of the longest months of the year, where we are learning a lot about ourselves in terms of spending time with each other and looking over different options on the field. We’re excited to get out there and get after UCLA softball.”

The Bruins are returning all but five players from last year’s 58-win team. Redshirt junior pitcher and first baseman Rachel Garcia is fresh off a season where she won a plethora of awards.

The right-hander is the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year as well as the 2018 USA Softball, National Fastpitch Coaches Association and ESPNW National Player of the Year. She is coming off a year in which she went 29-4 in the circle with a 1.31 ERA, striking out 315 batters in 208 innings.

Garcia led the Pac-12 in wins, strikeouts and opponent batting average. At the plate, she hit .339 with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs and led the team with 17 multi-RBI and 19 multi-hit games.

Redshirt sophomore outfielder Aaliyah Jordan claimed the conference batting title last year and won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

However, the Chula Vista, California, native had Tommy John surgery in the summer to treat an elbow injury that was bothering her toward the end of last season.

“I probably have a few more months until I’m fully recovered,” Jordan said. “I am allowed to hit, though, so I’ll be able to hit during the season and hopefully in the end be able to play on the field.”

Jordan added her success last season came from having fun and not getting caught up in statistics. She said she realizes teams now know who she is and that she is ready to work on her weaknesses from last year.

“I’m a sucker for rise balls,” Jordan said.

Garcia, Jordan and junior utility player Bubba Nickles were named to the USA Softball Player Of The Year watchlist Wednesday.

UCLA will also welcome a freshman class that boasts the 2018 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year – pitcher Megan Faraimo.

Catcher and first baseman Colleen Sullivan, catcher and infielder Shea Moreno, outfielder Kelly Flynn, and utility players Kelli Godin and Anna Vines round out the rest of the class, which ranks No. 16 in the country.

“We have speed that’s been added with (Flynn, Godin and Vines) and we have some power with (Sullivan and Morena) who can swing the stick,” Inouye-Perez said. “The big impact that we’re really going to see is in the circle with (Faraimo). She’s going to do some great things and she’s a game changer and competitor.”

The Bruins have 33 matchups against teams that made the NCAA tournament and five against College World Series squads from last year – Arizona State, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon and the championship runner-up Washington.

The Bruins start their season in Hawaii on Thursday at the Hawaii Paradise Classic. Five games are booked, against UT Arlington, Fresno State, Hawai’i, Georgia State and Saint Mary’s.

Senior infielder Brianna Tautalafua said she is excited to start the season in Hawaii and see if the Bruins can improve off last year’s result.

“Even though it is a paradise, we are going there strictly for business,” Tautalafua said.

UCLA researchers improve scope of technology to help create gamma-ray observatory

UCLA researchers are helping construct the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory.

The observatory, called the Cherenkov Telescope Array, will comprise 118 telescopes in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, according to a university press release. Vladimir Vassiliev, a professor in the physics and astronomy department, has served as the principal investigator on this project since 2012.

The array of telescopes will work as a system that allows researchers to study gamma rays in the sky with about 10 times more sensitivity than current telescopes.

UCLA researchers led the development of the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope, which allows the telescope array to capture gamma-ray sources more efficiently.

The telescope uses a dual-mirror system, a step up from the single-mirror designs that are typically used. This improves the quality of the images taken over a large portion of the sky. These panels were integrated and calibrated at UCLA.

Over 1,400 scientists and engineers will participate in the scientific and technical development of the array project, according to the press release.