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i s s u e # 1 - m o n d ay, m ay 5 , 2 0 1 4 www. k o i n e . l a
Many people over the last few
years have argued that newspapers
are becoming obsolete. Tey claim
the purveyor of all that is modern
and gaudy the Internet is the
bell that chimes the newspapers
destruction. Tese dystopians and
paranoid luddites are, fortunate-
ly, wrong. Te Internet did not de-
stroy the newspaper. Actually, it
underlined the overwhelming need
for smarter, more entertaining and
critical sources of information. If
nothing else, new forms of media
like Twitter, Tumblr, and Reddit
(to name just a few) have reminded
some of us why newspapers even ex-
ist.
See, there are two kinds of news-
papers in this world. Te frst takes
any and all available information,
whether its newsworthy or not,
and proceeds to condense, squeeze,
bend, and manipulate it into an
easy-to-swallow pill for readers ev-
erywhere. Like a desperate friend on
Instagram , these types of news out-
lets will do anything for attention.
But for the most part they simply re-
peat themselves or each other. Many
people live like dope fends perma-
nently attached to these IVS of in-
formation. For them, its as if being
at the beachhead of breaking news
makes them actors in some grand
production. It feels like they are a
part of something big and import-
ant. In a sense its as if knowledge of
the trivial details of an event makes
one involved, or somehow more in-
volved, in the actual event. Te real-
ity is most news is inconsequential
to our daily lives and these snippets
rarely contribute to even our under-
standing of the important issues.
Take a moment to consider the
current picture in your head of the
following important and widely
covered events: USAC elections,
the divestment debate, diversity
on campus, local and national fs-
cal responsibility, the Ukranian
crisis, and Fukoshimas Nuclear Di-
saster. If youre anything like us,
here at Koine, your head is flled
with distant, foggy images at best.
Tats because most news sources
just provide misleading, irrelevant,
or thoughtless scraps of informa-
tion about incredibly complex or
completely banal issues. Instead of
learning to think critically about the
world around us, we learn to be re-
active, as if all news is either candy
or poison.
Luckily, theres hope! Te second
kind of paper is diametrically oppo-
site. Instead of propagating myths
about objective reporting or the
need for excessive information
masturbation, these outlets ofer
their analysis and opinion of how
things are or how they should be.
So while they still largely report the
news, they do so more thoughtfully
and sparingly (see: Foreign Afairs,
Te Economist, Te Atlantic, etc.).
Tese organizations make informa-
tion useful and thought-provoking
through pragmatic analysis and
careful selection processes. Instead
of flling the world with more un-
necessary noise, great news sources
flter out the distractions to let their
readers focus on what really matters.
In the same way these publications
push policy makers to make better
decisions, or at least question past
decisions, they inform people and
spark intelligent public discourse.
Bad news (of the frst kind) pre-
tends to just distill and present facts
for the reader to interpret him or
herself, but there are two funda-
mental faws to this approach. Com-
bined, they make it impractical at
best, and totally impossible at worst
to take anything substantial away
from the news.
Te frst issue is many people lack
the basic knowledge, expertise, or
high-level critical thinking skills to
just crunch the numbers. News
stories on growing trends, inter-
national afairs, politics, business,
and science and technology cannot
just appeal to plain common sense.
Tese outlets provide mere snippets
of incredibly complex issues that
even intelligent experts struggle to
decipher. So how are most people,
even experts, meant to understand
the meaning and signifcance of
these events when framed without a
comprehensive argument?
Te second faw is there is no such
thing as objective reporting or any
other similarly misleading state-
ments. Te Roman Emperor Mar-
cus Aurelius summed this point up
best when he said: Te Universe is
change, life is opinion. To pretend
good journalism can just magically
depart from subjective experience to
report the world how it really is is
a bad joke. So why do they pretend
to do so anyways? Teres no better
way to convince someone of some-
thing than to pretend youre not
trying to. If you dont believe us, we
encourage you to prepare to have
your mind blow upon researching
subliminal advertising.
Here, at Koine, we belong to the
second camp of news outlets. We
believe information rarely speaks
for itself. Facts dont exist inde-
pendent of us, and our analyses
shouldnt pretend they do either.
Young people today are distracted
more than ever by the demands of
21st century life. We help them nav-
igate the world by providing smart,
digestible information relevant to
their lives.
Each issue features a collection
of articles and creative pieces meant
to challenge and persuade our read-
ers to think diferently. Tat is our
commitment. So while all of our ar-
ticles aim to be factually correct and
as objective (for the side of truth as
possible), we ultimately just want to
provoke informed dialogue and in-
spire thought. Feel free to disagree.
REL ATI VI TY Eschers illustration represents the ability to consider multiple points of view
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USAC Elections @xx_voteordie_xx
Ur $$$ in their SAC
Indian Elections @fipsideofkoine
Does India need a Modi-fcation
#nero #hero
Aliens and Equations @ETAonET
The odds of being probed in the
next 7 days #galacticconquest
Junkiedom @ryanreynoldswrap
My life as a transient shitshow left
me with knowledge of broken
people - the way out to prosperity is
paved in paying for the past.
4:52pm
4:41pm
4:35pm
4:20pm
Its not often you hear rennais-
sance and electronic music in the
same sentence, but increasing
trends suggest that might be ex-
actly whats currently happening.
a NEW RENNAISSANCE
PAGE 6
Technology has
changed every part of
our life, one author
asks if it can success-
fully change classical
music too.
In face of the upcoming
USAC election, Koine
does an in-depth analy-
sis of fscal responsibil-
ity and problems facing
student government.
Taking a clos-
er looking at the
worlds largest
country - China.
PAGE 2
PAGES 4-5
PAGE 7
future of classical music el ecti ons POL I TI CS
2 k o i n e | m o n d ay, m ay 5
t h
, 2 0 1 4 | k o i n e . l a
WORLD
Messy Politics in China
Leaves Hope of Liberal
Democracy
Late March, Chinese Pres-
ident Xi Jinpings ongoing
anti-corruption investigation
seized assets worth at least
$14.5 billion dollars from
family and friends of the
retired security czar, Zhou
Yongkang. Since Zhou was
part of the Politburo Standing
Committee (PSC), the highest
level of party leadership, Xi
had broke the decades old un-
spoken rule that current and
retired members of the PSC
were untouchable. Over 300
people associated with Zhou
have already been taken in
for questioning or put under
arrest. China regularly makes
headlines for economic news,
but the political infghting is
usually kept out of the public
eye to present a more unifed
image for outsiders.
Unfortunately, this rein-
forces the common impres-
sion of the Peoples Repub-
lic of China (PRC) that their
one-party state must nec-
essarily mean a monolithic
entity with neither freedom
of speech nor political dyna-
mism. Traditionally, it is be-
lieved that political partici-
pation requires elections and
that censorship leaves no crit-
icism of the state.
A more careful reading of
the actions taken by the Chi-
nese Communist Party (CCP)
reveals that there has been a
history of institutional and
ideological change towards
something resembling rule of
law within the party.
Te story starts in 1992
with the end of strongman
politics. Charismatic author-
itarian rulers, such as Deng
Xiaoping and Mao Zedong be-
fore him, had dominated the
CCP. Te leadership was deter-
mined to avoid the emergence
of other strongmen and ac-
celerated the institutionaliza-
tion of Chinese politics.
Of course, these institu-
tions and norms are enforced
by the party itself and not
by an independent judiciary.
For example, the CCP contin-
ues to use the nomenklatura
method inspired by the Rus-
sians to appoint ofcials to
leadership positions based on
rank and availability of posi-
tions. More so than anywhere
else, connections matter, and
the probability of getting pro-
moted depends on who you
know.
Nevertheless, Cheng Li,
from the nonpartisan Brook-
ings Institution, has iden-
tifed several formal insti-
tutional measures to make
succession events fairer,
more consistent, and above
all more stable after 1992.
Tese include elements that
are typically imagined in de-
mocracies such as term limits,
mandatory retirement ages,
and regional representation
that curb favoritism, abuses
of power, and lifelong tenure.
In practice, a few power-
ful members bargain and cut
deals behind closed doors
as opposed to free and fair
competition between equals.
A larger concern is that the
implication of these reforms
is that democracy is a privi-
lege to be exercised only by
the party rather than the peo-
ple they were never elected
to represent. Lower levels of
governance have allowed for
some formal elections, but
higher ranked ofcials only
need to pay lip-service to the
principle of democracy.
In 1989, Jiang Zemin
came into power and helped
transition the CCP from a
party representing the poor
urban workers and peasant-
ry to a party that represents
the newly emerging entre-
preneurial and professional
business class a process that
was mostly maintained by his
successor, Hu Jintao. Tese
reforms have been praised by
liberals, but leftists have crit-
icized the nominally Commu-
nist party now as a network-
ing service for capitalists to
cut deals with government
ofcials that serves to expand
opportunities for corruption.
Partly to address the lack
of fair representation (or cyn-
ically interpreted as a surviv-
al tactic) the CCP has greatly
expanded their membership.
Te CCP now has around 80
million members with over
20 million reserve applicants
annually and another 75 mil-
lion in the Communist Youth
League (CYL). Tey have over
3.7 million grassroots branch-
es, and a number of diferent
complex often overlapping
factions.
Professor Kerry Brown
from the University of Sydney
describes the factions more
as patronage groups than as
ideological alliances. Tey are
bound together by personal
loyalties, infuential associ-
ations like the CYL, profes-
sional ties, etc. Participation
in the dominant factions does
not mean blind allegiance to
one particular cause or anoth-
er; the factions mostly serve
the members individual am-
bitions.
As a result there is plenty
of infghting within the party.
For instance, take the purge
of Bo Xilai. In 2012, Bo Xilais
police chief, Wang Lijun, tried
to defect over to the United
States out of fear for his life.
In the process, he exposed the
extent of Bos abuses of power
(including but not limited to
engaging in bribery, torturing
political rivals, keeping multi-
ple mistresses, and covering
up his wifes murder of a Brit-
ish businessman).
Te CCP was understand-
ably upset that their skele-
tons had been dragged out of
the closet and shoved into the
medias limelight. Te Politi-
buros Standing Committee
convened and agreed to strip
Bo from most of his positions.
After being thoroughly con-
demned by the state media
and indicted by a kangaroo
court, Bo was stripped of all
assets and disappeared into
prison in 2013.
President Xi Jinpings now
famous anti-corruption cam-
paign is commonly described
by experts as unusually ex-
tensive and persistent. Zhou
had previously been in charge
of internal security, a state
apparatus that draws in more
resources than the Chinese
military. Zhou was also con-
sidered the Godfather of
the Chinese state petroleum
industry and was originally
believed to have a more ex-
tensive power base than Xi
Jinping.
Supporters and optimists
hope that Xis campaign will
rebuild legitimacy in the CCP
by taking the country towards
rule of law. By hunting the
higher ranked tigers as well
as swatting down the less in-
fuential fies, Xi demon-
strates that he takes corrup-
tion seriously as a threat to
the future of China. More
practically speaking, he has
frightened many potential
rivals into submission, and
those removed from ofce be-
cause of corruption charges
are replaced by Xis loyalists.
Cynics believe that many
of those investigated are los-
ers in a political power strug-
gle. Corruption is endemic to
China, and few in positions
of power are actually clean.
Regardless, it is clear that
there is vigorous political ac-
tivity ongoing within the CCP.
What is even more interesting
is that political dissent, both
within the party and among
Chinese intellectuals outside
of the CCP, is regularly and
systematically permitted..
One Cambridge study argued
that the authorities are far
more interested in censoring
any political expressions that
might lead to collective action
than in censoring criticism
against the state. Tese stan-
dards for censorship make far
more sense if the CCP is more
interested in preventing or-
ganized opposition against
one-party rule than silencing
political criticism.
Te institutionalization of
Chinese politics, the rapid and
inclusive growth of the CCP
membership, the constant
factional infghting, and the
opportunities for criticism of
the state are all reasons why
we need to re-imagine how
political participation and ex-
pression is characterized in
China.
BY JIMMY YUEN
THE STAFF:
Astrid Chevreuil
Basil McCallum
Cameron Montano
Cathy Asapahu
Cody Schaaf
Deeptiman Kaushik
Jeremy Gonzaga
Jimmy Yuen
Marlon Meyerson
Miles Solomon
Pedro Guimares
Phil Tian
Romina Mogtaderi
Shantam Jain
Stefanie Studen
Stian Brynildsen
Tyler Koteskey
Utkarsh Pandey
Vivek Pandya
Wade Kubat
Yosha Moudgil
Zaniar Moradian
QUESTIONS?
COMMENTS?
CONCERNS?
EMAIL US AT
KOINE@
KOINE.LA
k o i n e . l a | m o n d ay, , m ay 5 , 2 0 1 4 | k o i n e 3
As LGBT activism has become
increasingly prevalent, it is
time for us to take a step back
and ask: how can we improve
the current tactics being em-
ployed?
Contemporary social move-
ments, from pride march-
es to WBC picket rallies, are
thought to do more to accen-
tuate the diferences between
groups in local communities
than to garner the support
that most activists desire.
When Craig Rodwell and
Brenda Howard envisioned
the frst Pride March, they
emphasized that the gay is-
sue would not just go away,
but would be a long and dif-
fcult struggle to bring to the
nations attention. Te goal of
becoming recognized in the
United States and building a
powerful support base among
various peoples has long been
accomplished. Te challenge
now for western activists is
to navigate these issues in an
increasingly nuanced world.
By studying the history of
the western LGBT movement
and recent LGBT trends else-
where, such as Tailand, we
gain insight that will help us
answer our question.
In 1970, the frst pride parade
was held. Te parade was or-
ganized in order to bring more
attention to the gay issue by
combating negative media
campaigns against the LGBT
community. Te parade also
tried to display nationwide
support for pro-LGBT fac-
tions by allowing proponents
to raise their voices and show
a united front against social
injustice. Forty-four years lat-
er the parade has taken on a
diferent meaning. Parades
now mostly consist of extrav-
agant festivals in largely liber-
al cities and barely tolerated
political events in conserva-
tive ones. Demonstrations
both for and against the LGBT
have become so commonplace
that whatever message dem-
onstrators are trying to get
across is diluted.
Attitudes towards homosex-
ual behavior in Tailand are
unique to their intrinsic cul-
tural perspective, while at
the same time adapting to
western notions of liberty
and equality. To understand
the mindset that Tai people
take towards homosexuals,
one must understand the
diference between knowing
and seeing. Whereas one may
know that a man engages in
same-sex relations, its en-
tirely diferent than seeing a
man faunt his sexual devi-
ance in a public setting. Basi-
cally there are three genders:
males, females, and gender
crossing gay males who
place an emphasis on pre-
sentation and aesthetics to
embody what is colloquially
known as a kathoey. Perfor-
mance plays an integral part
in constructing the Tai ho-
mosexual identity.
Not only is the conceptual-
ization of LGBT diferent in
Tailand, but the LGBT activ-
ism there also takes on a dif-
ferent form than contempo-
rary western activism. Many
Tai LGBT do not wish to take
a confrontational stance. In-
stead, using newly formed
LGBT-oriented magazines, in-
ternet forums, and social me-
dia, activists build support-
ive communities for LGBT in
Tailand and try to educate
the public by challenging com-
monly held misconceptions.
But where the Tai activists
difer most is how they link
the rights of homosexuals to
other ideals.
Tere are two case stud-
ies that showcase the success
of this strategy. In December
1996, a ban was placed on
homosexual students at the
Ratchabhat Institutes, the
primary system of govern-
ment run teacher-training
colleges. Te repeal of this
policy was made possible only
because pro-LGBT activists
were able to merge their ob-
jective of having this policy
repealed with the majoritys
goals of wanting to conform
to international standards of
progressive modernity. Ac-
tivists have since worked to
present a positive and pro-
ductive image of LGBT to
facilitate widespread social
acceptance and the idea that
persecuting the LGBT actively
hurts society. Similarly, in Ar-
izona, a bill that would have
allowed business owners to
discriminate against homo-
sexuals was vetoed partly on
concerns raised by conserva-
tive members of government
that the bill would adversely
afect the economy. Te idea
that the bill would have un-
foreseen consequences to the
economy and local commu-
nities was more efective in
stopping the bill than ethical
or moral arguments have ever
been.
Looking at LGBT his-
tory and the eforts of Tai ac-
tivists helps us decide which
direction we should take so-
cial activism by showing us
that efective social move-
ments incorporate four key
characteristics:
1) Te group distinguishes its
identity by creating or adapt-
ing terminology to suit its
purposes.
2) Te group maintains a large
system of support while re-
maining relevant in the public
sphere.
3) Te group benefts from
supporting other groups, or
by connecting their goals to a
broader interest
4) Te movement has a clear
purpose with an efcient way
of disseminating its ideas.
While LGBT activists in the
United States established
their identity and national
systems of support, they re-
main mostly defcient in the
other two characteristics. Te
LGBT movement must adapt
and change lest it die of stag-
nation.
LGBT activists in the united
states need a new strategy
BY JEREMY GONZAGA
4 k o i n e | m o n d ay, m ay 5
t h
, 2 0 1 4 | k o i n e . l a
LOCAL
how the usac elections affect you
and what you should know before voting
Elections take place at MyUCLA account during 6
th
week under Campus Life >
Surveys and Notices > Election, from Tuesday May 6
th
9:00 a.m. to Friday noon
Students love to complain
about the Undergraduate
Student Association Council
(better known as USAC). Tis
is especially common when
council members vote to in-
crease their monthly stipends
from $355 to $672 over the
summer without any supervi-
sion from the student body or
when they clashed over the di-
vestment debacle last quarter.
KOINE observes that election
turnout last year amounted to
36.6 % of the eligible voters.
Tis is an abysmally low fg-
ure for student participation.
If students want to complain,
then more of them need to
take fve minutes and vote,
and more than 100 of them
need to show up to listen to
their candidates for endorse-
ment hearings.
Lack of attention from the
general student body leads
to complacency among can-
didates. USAC is devolving
into a recreational club for
people who simply want to
fulfll some arbitrary college
experience ideal. Complaints
against USAC are worthless
unless individuals students
take action to improve their
student government by edu-
cating themselves about the
election and taking the elec-
tions seriously.
KOINE believes that every
student has a moral responsi-
bility to visit the ofcial page
of the USAC election board at
usacelections.com (a neutral
party overseeing the election
procedures), read the plat-
form of each candidate, and
educate themselves (e.g. at-
tending the candidate debates
like that one on May 7th in-
side De Neve auditorium at 7
pm). Any student who cares
about campus climate and
improving our university life
should know the essentials
about USAC:
Every year, all UCLA students
pay what is called the USA
Fee of $122.47 through their
BruinBill Accounts to the
undergraduate student gov-
ernment. Tere are currently
28,674 undergraduate stu-
dents enrolled, and assuming
all of them pay the fee, the net
total amounts to $3,511,705.
In other words, USAC manag-
es vast amounts of resources
derived from your student
fees. According to the regis-
trar:
Tis is an undergraduate stu-
dent government fee collected
by the University and passed
on to Associated Students of
UCLA (ASUCLA) for use by
the undergraduate student
government organization.
Te fee can be increased only
by a vote of the students in a
student referendum. Funds
are used primarily to support
student government and for
programming such as com-
munity service, flms, cultural
events, and concerts.
Te grephic on the right
shows a selection of some of
the larger fund allocations of
the USA fee
Te USAC elections present
the only chance that UCLA
students that are not within
the structure of the Student
Association have to change
how the USA fee is spent. All
13 ofcers and commission-
ers that comprise USAC are
elected by the student body.
Each ofcer serves a specif-
ic function within USAC and
oversee a variety of initia-
tives and funding programs.
When reading the platforms
of each candidate, you should
ask yourself what you would
like to see how your money is
spent on. Here are some ob-
servations made by KOINE:
Presidential candi-
date Sunny Singh proposes
the construction of rotat-
ing murals in Ackerman that
highlight the experience of
students. KOINE questions
whether this is good use of
student money. On the other
hand, weve never seen such a
thing ourselves, and it might
add to Ackermans aesthetic
atmosphere.
Presidential candidate
Devin Murphy proposes the
creation of a cafe in Powell.
It does not seem strictly nec-
essary to create another cafe
when Kerckhof and various
other venues are within a fve
minute walking distance. Fur-
thermore, the quality of the
existing cafes is unimpres-
sive. Perhaps a better use of
the money could be used to
improve existing cafes?
In addition to selecting the
new USAC ofcers, students
will also vote on a few referen-
dums during the May 6th-8th
elections. Tese referendums
change the constitution of
USAC and allocate new funds
for student initiatives. Te
following referendums will be
voted upon May 6th-8th:
Te creation of a 14th
position, specially designated
for transfer students afairs
KOINE is skeptical
about the creation of new of-
fces, especially this proposed
ofce which has been criti-
cised for being too vaguely
defned (Daily Bruin April 20,
2014). On the other hand,
transfer students do seem
to lack a certain degree of
focused representation in
USAC, and the creation of a
new ofce could be a way to
fx this.
An Arts Restoring
Community fund that will
provide funding to student
arts programs by increasing
the USA fee by $4.65 per year
Te Cultural Afairs
Commission (also called CAC)
would have complete con-
trol over these funds. Tis
referendum would approxi-
mately allocate an additional
$130,000 for CAC, which is a
considerable amount. Wheth-
er or not you should vote for
this or not depends on your
opinion about CACs contribu-
tion to campus life in the past.
CAC is probably best known
for providing events such
as the JazzReggae Festival,
UCLA Campus Art Walk, and
Hip Hop Appreciation Month.
A yes on this referendum
would mean more quantity or
at least higher quality events
of a similar nature. CAC cur-
rently manages funding allo-
cations of $53,838.45 in addi-
tion to $79,843.21 in separate
allocations to the Jazzreggae
Festival and $30,000.00 to
the Hip Hop Series.
total: $2,280,201.13
BY STIAN BRYNILDSEN
k o i n e . l a | m o n d ay, , m ay 5 , 2 0 1 4 | k o i n e 5
usac elections:
survival of the shittest
With USAC elections right
around the corner, it is of ut-
most importance to be pre-
pared to exercise your right to
vote. As such, the candidates
in USAC elections are a varied
group in many regards, bring-
ing to the table expertise in
sundry felds. Your duty as a
student of UCLA is to elect
representatives that may
serve you and the University
to the highest degree attain-
able. To fulfll this duty, how-
ever, you must be able to vote
for a candidate who is capable
of executing the functions of
his ofce, and we feel that the
average student should put
in a little more thought into
which they choose to lead
their university. While UCLA
continues to be a top-ten
school, due in some part to
good governance in Kerckhof
Hall, there are certain things
in which USAC leaves a lot to
be desired.
Te current USAC board is
controlled almost completely
by Bruins United, a political
party that rules by popularity
among Greek organizations
and an almost overwhelming
propaganda campaign. Teir
foundation is self-proclaimed-
ly built on tacos, beer, and
money, as per the description
of the Facebook event of their
10-year anniversary rager.
Given the fippancy of Bruins
Uniteds approach to candida-
cy, it is counter-intuitive that
it currently holds 6 out of 13
USAC council seats.
Its fercest rival is Lets
Act, a fedgling slate made up
of a conglomeration of stu-
dent groups like Samahang
Pilipino and the Afrikan Stu-
dent Union. With 4 seats in
USAC and the Presidency to
boot, the failures of the cur-
rent year can be attributed
as much to its members as to
anyone else.
Te last slate participating
is Fired Up, a splinter group
led by the Vietnamese Stu-
dent Union, American Indian
Student Union, and the Pa-
cifc Islands Student Associa-
tion that felt that its interests
werent being adequately rep-
resented by Lets Act.
Since the USAC Election
Commission does not even
recognize slates, we wonder
whether slate politics is the
most efcient, or even the
most moral method of elec-
tion campaigning. Tis is not
national politics where each
congressman or senator has
an equal agenda and power in
the house. Candidates elected
to USAC have specifc posts,
specifc duties to carry out,
and it is beyond logic how
the duties of these various
council-members can be rep-
resented in one political man-
ifesto disseminated by these
political parties. How one or-
ganization can reconcile its
vision to be applicable to the
posts of student wellness,
academic afairs, and com-
munity service is puzzling to
say the least. Can one political
party claim to have superior
policy in all of the felds that
USAC covers? We think not. It
makes a tremendous amount
of sense to vote for the best
candidate on the ballot for
that particular job, no matter
what his or her political afli-
ation is. Whether that candi-
date wants to act, is fred up,
or was brought up on tacos
and beer, what really matters
is how well he or she will do
his or her job.
Te platforms of the can-
didates running for election
are uninspiring to say the
least, if not, something to
just plain laugh at. Te most
glaring puzzle that pres-
ents itself when considering
Presidential platforms is BU
candidate Sunny Singhs pro-
posal to install rotating art
murals in Ackerman Union.
His cause may be, as he puts
it, to celebrate the Bruin ex-
perience with student art,
but at Koine, we are still un-
sure whether the murals will
be switched out every week or
slowly revolving in some sort
of art merry-go-round. Ei-
ther way, it is hardly a secret
that this is not the best use of
USAC resources, even if the
referendum proposed by SA-
NAA mystifyingly called Arts
Restoring Community is not
much better on paper.
At the USAC endorsement
hearing, candidates had the
chance to make statements
regarding their platform and
receive questions from the
general population. What it
quickly turned into, howev-
er, was a two-slate shouting
contest after Fired Up left
the hearing early due to ten-
sions with other political
parties. Candidates words
were cheered by their repre-
sentative slates, no matter
how inane or generic, while
questions that were asked
were unashamedly staged by
both political parties to give
their respective candidates
additional time to expound
on their platform. Te high-
lights of the evening includ-
ed the Bruins United Finan-
cial Supports Commissioner
candidate harping on park-
ing facilities for a good fve
minutes, culminating in her
proposition for a parking
scholarship to make park-
ing afordable for students.
It seemed while the Fired Up
candidate spent the better
part of the last academic year
homeless (Koine was thor-
oughly moved), the BU can-
didate was fed up looking for
places to park her car in West-
wood. Koine wishes that the
candidates would put a little
more thought into their per-
sonal statements, given that
more than $3 million passes
through USAC hands every
fscal year.
Truth be told, the quality
of candidates in a college elec-
tion might not be on the same
level as most local or national
elections, but the least we can
expect from each candidate
is a thoughtfully considered
platform. It would also be
nice if we could discriminate
between the diferent candi-
dates beliefs, but that might
be asking for too much this
year. We believe a moral voter
is one who casts the ballot not
for the right slate, but for the
right candidate. Vote wise-
ly, UCLA, your fate is in your
hands.
DISCRIMINATING POLICIES AND
A NEW VICE CHANCELLOR
On October 15, 2013, mi-
nority faculty released a re-
port entitled Independent
Investigative Report on Acts
of Bias and Discrimination
Involving Faculty at UCLA.
Tey criticized the university
policies as vague and essen-
tially nonexistent in address-
ing minority discrimination.
Within a week, UC President
Janet Napolitano issued a se-
ries of directives to all of the
UC chancellors. UCLA Chan-
cellor Gene D. Block reacted
by creating a new position,
the Vice Chancellor for Equi-
ty, Diversity and Inclusion,
and promised the application
of minority friendly direc-
tives on campus.
Te members of the faculty
who demanded a comprehen-
sive recognition of minorities
asked the UCLA administra-
tion to cope with bias, intoler-
ance, and discrimination. In-
stead of working on a project
that would be inclusive, the
UC administration came up
with a plan that clearly puts
emphasis on diferentiation.
In the original directive, Na-
politano requests an ofcial
to serve as a lead discrimina-
tion ofcer. Indeed, the Vice
Chancellor for Equity, Diver-
sity and Inclusion, despite its
sophisticated name, intends
to mainly take care of the lack
of representation of minori-
ties. By deciding to put em-
phasis on minorities, UCs ad-
ministration takes the stance
to see its students as, before
all, part of a separate commu-
nity (whether it is ethnic, reli-
gious, or sexual.)
Tis treatment might seem
normal to American students,
but for students elsewhere,
this is rather unusual. For in-
stance, in France, a student
would feel uncomfortable
about having to talk about
his or her religious faith at
school because the education
system there is intended to be
neutral to these diferences.
Once a French student enters
her university, she leaves be-
hind her associative bound-
aries. In France, students as-
sociations are mostly political
parties, unions, or common
interest organizations. Rare-
ly will you fnd an association
that gathers people from one
ethnic community it would
be interpreted as sectarian
segregation within the Re-
public.
Te French model cannot
be exported America does
not share the history and so-
cial mentality that makes this
model successful in France.
Additionally, such a model
has its own pitfalls, as most
color/religious/sexual/etc.
blind policies do. Neverthe-
less, it gives an idea of how a
student would feel in an in-
clusive model, as opposed to
one that emphasizes distinc-
tions. When minorities are
not treated as exceptions, the
focus is very much at an indi-
vidual level and students have
a stronger sense of member-
ship in the student body.
Back in UCLA, the Vice
Chancellor for Equity, Diver-
sity and Inclusion might ofer
some prospect of change. Af-
ter six months of its creation,
the ofce remains empty with
no one available to provide
information on this matter.
It remains a title on paper
hence, the absence of pol-
icies released by this adminis-
trative entity. Already, some
students are trying to fll this
administrative void. Among
the initiatives is the Grad-
uate Students Associations
draft resolution that suggests
UCLA students should con-
tribute to the selection of this
Vice Chancellor. Tere is a
need for debate over the char-
acteristics and goals that we
would like this ofce to serve.
Te new position of Vice
Chancellor is like a photo
negative that still needs de-
velopment. Immersed in the
acid-dye bath of controversial
debates, it should reveal, step
by step, the contours of a dif-
ferent educational project
sheen with contrast and clar-
ity. It is up to us to face the
imperfections of the admin-
istrative system and discuss
openly sensitive topics such
as race and religion in order
to make the Vice Chancellor
for Equity, Diversity and In-
clusion an efective lever for
action.
we were
founded 10
years ago on
beer, tacos
and money

BY ASTRID CHEVREUIL
BY THE STAFF
6 k o i n e | m o n d ay, m ay 5
t h
, 2 0 1 4 | k o i n e . l a
SCIENCE
WHY ARE THERE STILL
NO ALIENS IN SIGHT?
Every man, woman, and
child has had moments of
radical epiphany in their lives
where they feel as though
theyre being watched by a
higher power. Many call this
power the Ultimate Being,
still, others feel that it is some
more active power, perhaps
another form of life which
chooses to watch us but nev-
er throw us a line. So what
are the odds that our children
and their children will play
with little green men in the
backyard?
Te existence of intelli-
gent life of our kind is the
remarkable result of unlikely
planetary conditions and an
increasingly improbable se-
ries of random events. While
it is very rare for this process
to occur, the universe is so
incredibly vast it is entirely
reasonable to assume that we
are not alone. Based on the
assumptions we make, we
can estimate the number of
civilizations that may exist in
our galaxy and how likely it is
that we will come into contact
with them. To do so, we start
with a simple formula, known
as the Drake Equation, to es-
timate the number of civiliza-
tions in our galaxy (Nciv.)
N
ci v
=
N
stars
f
hp
f
li fe
f
ci v
f
now

N
stars
number of stars (at
least 200 bi lli on i n the Mi lky
Way)
f
hp
fracti on of stars that
have habi table planets (assume
1/1000)
f
li fe
fracti on of habi table
planets that develop li fe (as-
sume 1/10)
f
ci v
fracti on of li fe-bear-
i ng planets where ci vi li zati ons
grow (assume 1/100 planets)
f
now
fracti on of ci vi li zati ons
that sti ll exi st (5/1000 i f we as-
sume 1 mi lli on year li fespan over
2 bi lli on years of exi stence)
Tese numbers are as op-
timistic as any applied to this
formula. Tis equation is only
meant as a probability calcula-
tor and the real answer could
be within any range of values.
Inputting our variables, we
get that the number of civi-
lizations = 1,000, just in the
Milky Way today. Tis means
that there have been 5 million
civilizations in the last 5 bil-
lion years. So, where are they?
Interstellar travel is one of
those problems we hope to
solve to answer this question.
At best, interstellar travel
would be at nearly the speed
of light, which would hypo-
thetically be good enough to
get us across the galaxy in a
mere 150,000 years. Current-
ly, the chemical fuel we use
for our rockets is astronomi-
cally wasteful it would take
a 100-stage rocket (we use 3
stages currently) to reach only
0.1% of the speed of light. Tat
would only be good enough
to get us to Alpha Centauri,
the next closest star, within
4,000 years. Other, less com-
mon propulsion systems such
as fssion fuel, have been very
useful for travelling inside the
solar system but would still
take centuries to propel us to
other stars. Current technol-
ogy notwithstanding, there
are many theoretically sound
alternatives such as the use
of fusion power. Te ORION
project, founded in the 60s,
intended to create a mile-long
starship that would drop ex-
ploding fusion bombs (similar
to the reaction that powers
stars) out of its rear to propel
it forward Although prom-
ising, the project was overly
ambitious though feasible.
Nonetheless, even with
improvements to our existing
technology, we could colonize
the nearest stars within a few
thousand years. At a very
practical rate for galactic ex-
pansion of 1 star every 1,000
years, our galactic empire
could potentially be 5,000
light years in radius within a
million years. In 10 million,
we could reach the opposite
end of the galaxy. If we can do
it so easily, why hasnt some-
one already done it?
Enter Fermis Paradox:
Te time taken to evolve a
new civilization is far more
than the time needed to col-
onize the entire galaxy. Tis
suggests that whichever civ-
ilization evolved frst would
have a monopoly over galac-
tic expansion that would al-
low them to rule the galaxy.
Many programs, collectively
known as SETI (Search for
Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)
have been conducted over
the years. In 2005, one such
project, known as the Phoe-
nix Project, fnally came to a
close after scanning the radio
frequencies of 710 star sys-
tems within 150 light years
of Earth. Close to 70 million
radio channels searched, but
no alien signals whatsoev-
er. Astronomers continue
to discover new potentially
habitable planets, such as the
recent Kepler-186f, and esti-
mate that there may be even
more Earth-like planets than
they previous believed. None-
theless, many physicists and
astronomers, including UCLA
Professor Emeritus Ben Zuck-
erman are skeptical, as they
opine that the aliens would
also have access to such tech-
nology.
A number of solutions to
this problem have been pro-
posed, notably:
a) No civilization colonizes
or signals the idea that we
will never explore the stars
because: it is impossible, we
may choose not to for un-
known reasons, or we will
have destroyed ourselves by
then.
b) We actually are alone
Te idea that our fractions
for the Drake equation are
overly optimistic. Other the-
ories contribute to this view,
such as the knowledge that
all multi-cellular life on Earth
evolved from a single com-
mon ancestor or simply be-
cause we are, in fact, the frst
civilization to be self-aware.
c) Te aliens conceal them-
selves Te idea that these
alien civilizations are billions
of years older than us, have
solved every possible energy
crisis, and may no longer re-
semble the carbon-water or-
ganisms they began as (cue
images of bionic men.)
As a humans, and conse-
quently also optimists, we
are inclined to believe that
the last one is true; it is a
humbling resolution. We are
arrogant enough to believe
we can attempt interstellar
travel when we discovered a
key limitation to interstellar
travel, the speed of light, less
than 100 years ago. Te com-
plexities of our physical real-
ity remain unsolved and the
technological challenges that
lie ahead cannot always be an-
ticipated. In 3,000 years, our
civilization may reach galactic
conquest, but as long as we
squabble over pieces of land
that are 7 km2 in area (Sen-
kaku-Diaoyu), that few-thou-
sand-years-wait isnt going to
go away.
CULTURE
Scoop up the sea into a plate and feast upon it with white rice,
reach out and collect some stars, mix it with salt to eat,
watch the crabs and oysters dance in circle to nostalgic song.
Lizards and millipedes fy upward to devour the sun and moon,
a toad mounts a golden palanquin and foats up to tour heaven,
a bullfrog accompanies as the angels fee into their coconut husks,
earthworms woo young girls, the celestial nymphs who sleep in the sky.
All the microscopic amoeba raise their faces towards success and wealth.
Te divine are bored of their heavenly castles and descend upon the earth to devour the shit,
praising its taste, too wonderful for telling words.
Te jungle groves and shrubs can speak deeply of philosophy.
In its dreams, sawdust can calculate the weight of shadows.
Tose who are wonderful can reign within the great blue expanse.
Tose who remain are earthly, low, bufoons.
World of avarice and wrathful, drunken fools
Let us possess excess.
scoop up the sea
POETRY
TRANSLATED FROM THAI BY ANGKARN KALYANAPONG
send rsum and writing sample to
Among the majority of
college-aged youth, electronic
music has become the main
attraction of mega-festivals
like Coachella, which drew
an estimated 180,000 people
to the desert over two week-
ends last month.Some of the
biggest names on Coachellas
line-up this year included
EDM fxtures like Zedd,
Dillon Francis, Skrillex, and
Alesso, just to name a few.
Its understandable why
these artists have becomeso
popular with young people at
festivals. Anticipation-laden
builds and heavy drops, a
barrage of tantalizing visual
efects, and a positive, high
energy community of fellow
electro-heads jumping for
joy over the deafening and
intense noise: combine these
with some pent up emotion
from the prior months of
schoolwork and add the hype
of a three-day party in the
desert and youve got your-
self one hell of an experience.
But many of us leave these
epic sets with a bit of a sour
taste in our mouths. When
we listen to the same songs
outside of the festival set-
ting, something is diferent.
It begs the question: what is
this trend doing to our per-
ception of electronic music?
Does reserving electro for
festivals and party-style set-
tings alter the way we listen
to and respect this genre of
sound?
Due to the subjectivity
of musical tastes and aims,
it is obvious that no correct
answer exists. However, a
distinct electronic scene is
emerging from the depths
of the underground in the
U.S.that is beginning to
experiment with the popu-
lar perception of computer
and synthesizer-generated
sounds. Much of its roots lie
across the Atlantic, ina place
where electronic music has
dominated youth culture for
years
Europe can seem like an
extremely clich destination.
All of your friends are plan-
ning to go to Amsterdam or
London for study abroad, and
youre sick of people return-
ing from month-long Euro-
pean romps telling you about
the indescribable culture
and energy that surrounds
much of daily European life.
One thing that remains true
through all the stereotypes,
though, is the club culture
that Europeans innovated
and refned. Trough decades
of all-night underground
warehouse parties, endless
cigarettes, and hours of
thumping minimal techno
beats, they have fostered a
music scene that holds elec-
tronic music, in the form of
minimal, house, and tech-
no, on the highest pedestal.
Much of it can be described
simply as deep.
None of this is to discount
the style of American elec-
tro-lovers. Instead, it is an
opportunity to explore an-
other side of a beloved genre
of dance music. One that can
take us to deeper and more
introspective places than can
a traditional, crowd pump-
ing electro festival act. Take,
for example, Siberian DJ/
producer Nina Kraviz, one of
the lesser-known names at
Coachella this year. A matri-
arch of the deep stuf, she
will not blow your mind with
a hands-in-the-air set full of
bass-heavy bombs and sing-
along melodies. To her, her
job as a DJ is not to entertain
you with roller coaster ride
of overwhelmingly intense
builds and drops, but rather
to make you slowly sink into
a trance-like state of pure
groove, open and willing to
experiment with a variety of
raw sounds. In an interview
with Crack Magazine, she
makes her point clear: If the
crowd is hypnotized, Ive done
my job.
Minimal techno and deep
house have in the past been
written of as boring and
repetitive by many of those
used to the traditional elec-
tronic paradigms. But with a
growing presence of deep
European artists in the U.S.
festival scene, minimal techno
and deep house are setting a
new standard for dance mu-
sic, proving that it doesnt all
have to be about high energy,
intensity, and insane visual
performances. Often played
in smaller, darker, and more
intimate venues, deep elec-
tronic ofers an intriguing and
welcomed alternative to the
norm.
In the words of Nina
Kraviz,It just needs to make
me feel real. Te whole idea
about my music is that if I feel
it, it is real. I must really feel it
full on.
Heres to a new breed of
emotional, passionate, and
meaningful electronic music
entering the headphones and
speakers of our generation -
feel free to explore.
In cased you missed them
last month, some of the deep-
er acts at Coachella included:
Bicep, Dixon, Guy Gerber, Hot
Since 82,Nicolas Jaar, Maceo-
Plex, Te Martinez Brothers,
Scuba, and Solomun.
DIGGING DEEPER
BY CODY SCHAAF
BY THE STAFF
k o i n e . l a | m o n d ay, , m ay 5 , 2 0 1 4 | k o i n e 7
CULTURE
Youre never going to out-
live the things that didnt kill
you- my reputation among ex-
friends and the recipients of
my unappreciated apologies
is cemented frmly as a drug
addict, which I was. I am not
a drug addict anymore. De-
spite this, I was given $80 by
an authoritative and cautious
father in cop pistol-draw po-
sition to fee my girlfriends
apartment because her room-
mates and parents considered
me an undesirable due to my
past, regardless of the fact
that Id since six months ago
rinsed my hands of my most
recent stints in misery and
self-obsessed misanthropy.
Tis was to be expected,
and I was fne in proving my
sincerity in going straight
as well as paying back all
the trusts Id betrayed. I was
ready, Coach, strike me blind
and let me wave my billfold
round the lions den-come
what may, I was squaring
up anyway I could. Crawling
out of the pit Id dug during
my dark night of the soul, I
had escaped the horrorshow
unscathed. Now that I was
Cruel Air and Arebours
healthy enough to be held ac-
countable for my past sins, the
shiny happy people focked in
droves to beat me down in a
karmaically coincidental and
incredibly well choreographed
number called, Conse-
quence, using the very same
shovels theyd tried to dig me
out of my stupors with. Of
course, itd started as fun and
games: painkiller death pacts
and drinking binges, cross-
dressing and sleeping outside,
gradually starving and de-
generating into savages con-
cerned primarily with killing
themselves in the competitive
way that boysll go about.
Drugs are above all other
things-mediocre-in an oxy-
moronic way that defes their
mythologized impact on a
human being. More than a
devastating bombshell on the
otherwise healthy and intact
nature, they are far deadlier in
actuality as an elaborate, lab-
yrinthine series of routines
and boredoms punctuated by
diminishing highs and mono-
chrome lows.
Just as the stereotypical
dismissals of talent associat-
ed with the spike-in-arm am-
ateur guitarist getting told
his blood boiled black doesnt
necessarily guarantee success;
just as the emaciated model
learns that their dissolving
septum is not a career ensur-
ing quirk accompanying their
lithe, gamine frame; just as
every community college phi-
losophy student is often re-
minded by faculty and further
fun faying prick that, no, Soc-
rates probably wouldnt have
smoked a joint with them,
nor would Freud have racked
lines with them in a Starbucks
bathroom- so to goes the story
of the horrorshows, less like
Requiem for a Dream and
more commonly recognized
as that black fngered fellow
with the many Reynolds Wrap
shaped erections bulging
from within his sweatpants as
hes gingerly waving goodbye
while passing through Albert-
sons in a hurry.
Ruthlessly mediocre and
alluring by way of their ro-
manticized power (ie: one hit
of this will change you/make
you pregnant/make you a do-
pesick lunatic with a lit stick
Te humdrum and unaccounted-for
perspective of junkiedom
BY WADE KUBAT
of dynamite in each hand/re-
ally get where Burroughs was
coming from) drugs are made
an attractive commodity by a
media obsessed in equal parts
by meteoric rises with aston-
ishingly hedonistic glamour,
as well as the devastating de-
mise at the hands of a tragi-
cally wasted talent.
Tese substances are
marketed in fxed grins and
forced frowns by a cult of cin-
emagnifcient tabloid sensa-
tionalists. For every time an
acquaintance stole in their
pursuit of the legendary and
nonexistent Rock Bottom-a
system that operates akin to
trying to dig ones way under
a massive wall that the dirt
theyre shoveling only adds to
unbeknownst to them-which
exists so far as dignity will
bend (near indefnitely, as it
turns out, in an abyss reeking
both fguratively and literal-
ly of piss and vinegar) there
were an equal or higher num-
ber of nights spent sitting in
parking lots talking about
how brilliant Radiohead and
Boards of Canada were.
Tales more frequently re-
volved arond telemarketing
jobs, how to conceal a burnt
spoon carelessly left for con-
venient use atop ones Xbox
360, whether or not black
metal sucks and if that was
the point or not, etc. ad infni-
tum of grunge trivia facts and
glam metal chemical recipes.
Occasionally, a veterinarians
hospital would suspicious-
ly lose its horse tranquiliz-
er. Now and then, massive
amounts of cough syrups
could not be accounted for in
grocery stores, undiagnosed
cases of Bronchitis called for
remedy. Grandmothers and
retirees would open medi-
cine cabinets to cobwebs and
tumbleweeds instead of re-
lied upon and government
sanctioned Opanas, Perco-
cets, oxy, and jet-set-eras.
Rote memorys worth hun-
dreds of pages of Erowid was
developed-an exponential
boredom gathered momen-
tum while I waited eagerly
for the life threatening crisis,
the blue lipped epiphany, my
heart stopped on asphalt and
I awoke from my dream with
a new love of life-immediately
to be followed by the proposi-
tion to watch Trainspotting,
yet again.
For the same reason you
take drus, you stop taking
drugs, and its because they
start to feel routine. At the
core of it, drugs are like any
other thing: sex, badminton,
application of oxford com-
mas
Just because you made
love to someone you care
about doesnt mean there
isnt a pheromone and after-
shave drenched Neanderthal
hauling an unconscious girl
over his shoulder at a party.
Just because you played one
enchanted game of badmin-
ton with your autistic nephew
and it was endearing, inspir-
ing, and set to an exquisite-
ly wrought orchestral string
arrangement doesnt mean it
isnt retarded tennis. Just be-
cause some Charlie Mansons
get through or the girl with
the wig following you with
rolling eyes in an alley pass-
es out standing up doesnt
mean that the more realistic
face of addiction is anything
other than the teenager stuf-
ing pastries in his pants at a
7/11, the guy at the checkout
with the smudged money, the
monotonous grinding loss of
signifcance rather than the
abrupt spiral where one howls
in agony for their dying soul.
Te drugs seemed to ac-
count for a loss of enthusi-
asm. Tey were an interesting
new medium with its own
cliques and hierarchies, trad-
ing card stats and personali-
ties. Everybody involved was
missing something in the way
of proper entertainment or
chasing curiosity and work-
ing this tired beat. Dilaudid
Detectives unite for cofee
in all night diners (Dennys
or Norms?). Emaciated phy-
siques walked a tight rope
over trap houses simply be-
cause there seemed nothing
better to do for a thrill. Te
safety net was the substance
and once you kicked, you
landed where your life had
led you but without the med-
icine you needed now. Dark
and heavy, supposedly, but I
wasnt Jared Leto (online dat-
ing profle picture aside) so I
played myself out onto a dif-
ferent binge.
It is a mediocre fall. Grace-
ful, painfully slow, elaborate,
and equates to the shrug of
your shoulders, sighing your
life away. Sitting in a car
talking about OK Computer.
Tat is the face of addiction;
not so picturesque, dying in
front of Futurama reruns
and rubbing its nose for the
eightballs and $60 worth of
leftover Chinese food it ate,
cold sweats in a Cosby sweat-
er contemplating casual star-
vation to aford a gram from a
skinhead.
Its a yawn; stay in school.
YTSO CREATES A FRIGHTENING MESS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC
Te Youtube Symphony Or-
chestra (YTSO) is likely the
most viewed orchestra of the
century. Its basic concept,
as implied by its nominal
sponsor, is that everything
is Internet-based. Musicians
submit their audition videos
to the video-sharing website,
and after a round of selection
by professional musicians, are
subject to the popular vote.
Te lucky ones will then train
together for a week, and have
a grand fnale to celebrate
the realization of a democrat-
ic vision. Te organizer, Goo-
gle, describes its project as an
attempt to use the inherent
democracy of the Internet to
ofer musicians around the
world whether professional,
aspiring, or retired an op-
portunity to play... In 2011, it
received 33 million views for
the grand fnale, which briefy
occupied the No.2 spot on the
Music section of Youtube,
just below a Justin Bieber
video. As some commenta-
tors argue, we are opening up
a window of infnite possibili-
ties involving more people at-
tracted to the dying art.
However, we argue that YTSO
has not contributed to clas-
sical music it is an attempt
to popularize classical music
at the cost of the music itself.
For an event that calls itself a
symphony orchestra, it has
certain expectations to up-
hold. While the musicians are
clearly above the mark and
represent some of the most
undiscovered talents around
the world, a week of intense
training is still a horrible
rush. Te organizer attempt-
ed to mend this problem by
throwing in cash to invite
coaches from the big guns:
Vienna, Berlin and London
Philharmonics. Alas, both the
2008 and 2011 events failed
musically. Anne Midgette of
Washington Post criticized
the 2008 Carnegie Hall con-
cert: Te orchestra sound-
ed ragged, uneven, of wildly
diferent quality. It sounded,
in fact, like a lot of diferent
people talking at one another
in many diferent languages
which is, of course, what it
was.
Google has amassed the most
sophisticated technology in
order to build their musical
utopia where everything
is up for re-imagination in
a horrifyingly fashy way. In
the 2011 event, the intervals
are occupied with the back-
ground stories of individu-
al musicians projected on a
big screen. Elaborate camera
works, careful timings and
scripted monologues attempt
to present the diverse nature
of the orchestra. Tis is only
the frst in a series of exces-
sive additions from organiz-
ers that deem it necessary to
make the laser efect of musi-
cal notes fying out of the so-
loist for us to see the music.
Wait until you see 20-year-old
Cameron Carpenter on the
organ. Reminiscent of Lib-
erace of both his showman-
ship and wardrobes, he dons
a dark, blinking suit that re-
fects the spotlight projected
to his body in all directions
like a disco ball. He pounds
on the white keyboards as he
plays Bachs Toccata in F with
great virtuosity and, doubt-
lessly, passion. When the
dazzling projection starts, his
music fades into crazy, psy-
chedelic colors that envelope
the whole concert house. It
transforms into a Star Trek
themed laser parade, with
the performer, quite literally,
shining in the center.
Te sensory overload and the
forced interpretation of the
music not only fail to deliver,
but also tarnish a tradition
that shouldnt be taken light-
ly. Te magic of classical music
happens when you establish a
personal connection, surpass-
ing space and time, with the
great mind that wrote a piece
centuries ago. Tats why
Karajan used to conduct with
his eyes closed; Strauss barely
looked at his orchestra; Reiner
hardly moved his baton while
assaulting his audience with
the famous Chicago sounds.
Do we really need visual aids
to produce the soul-shaking
efects of the music?
Many people argue that it
is the only way we can make
this dying art appeal to the
next generation. While some
might be fascinated by the
fashiness, the glory, and the
famboyance of a young organ
player, they will have to face
the cruel reality once they put
their hands on a keyboard.
Tere is much, much more to
music than pounding on the
keys, sweating all over and
receiving cheers. Te techni-
cal aspects of music are the
most brutal wake-up calls to
the fantasies of playing like
a professional. Te claim that
fashiness can inspire poten-
tial performers is an utterly
baseless one.
Tere are sensible ways to
spread classical music. Berlin
Philharmonics has launched
their Digital Concert Hall
since 2009, which puts all of
their recorded concerts dat-
ing back to 2001 online into
an archive. Te user pays a
monthly fee to watch these
high-defnition recordings
anywhere: on his or her TV,
laptop, or smartphone. Te
autocracy is still there: Ber-
lin doesnt change because
there are cameras aiming at
them. But now their work is
available to people all over the
world instantly for a reason-
able price. From here, we can
look into making high quality
music free for all. Ten we can,
perhaps, further democratize
the music into a respectable
form. Te kind of Cultural
Revolution like YTSO really
shouldnt go on further, or
else we could fnd ourselves in
an utterly unmusical brave
new world.
BY PHIL TIAN
8 k o i n e | m o n d ay, m ay 5
t h
, 2 0 1 4 | k o i n e . l a
Narendra Modi:
Messiah or murderer?
the flip side of koine
his past
month, the
world was wit-
ness to a grand
c e l e b r a t i o n
of democracy when 815
million Indians exercised
their greatest privilege,
voting. Of this electorate,
150 million 18-25 year
olds will qualify to vote
for the frst time. Every
third person you meet
in an Indian city today
is under the age of 30,
making India one of the
worlds youngest nations.
Although there exists a
certain vibrancy and vi-
tality amongst Indian
youth, there exists sig-
nifcant frustration, too.
Most educational institu-
tions are grossly oversub-
scribed, and few possess
the resources and staf
to adequately train their
students for the work-
force. According to data
released by the Planning
Commission of India, al-
though growth averaged
8.7% from 2005 to 2010,
only 1 million jobs were
created, leaving 60 mil-
lion new entrants in the
labor market with no sta-
ble job. Tere are 430 mil-
lion young people in the
age group of 15-34 who
will be of age to generate
income for their depen-
dents. It is for this reason
why this election will be a
momentous one in Indias
short history as an inde-
pendent nation. Tis pop-
ulation bulge could be a
demographic dividend,
setting up an era of sta-
bility and prosperity or
a disaster, damning the
country to years of deep
social tension, instability,
and fear.
Narendra Modi, the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) candidate for prime
minister, is the leader
India needs right now.
Modi is a former tea seller
who pushed through the
ranks of his political par-
ty through sheer skill and
aptitude. As Chief Minis-
ter of the state of Guja-
rat (which is the size of
the UK in population and
area), he created an un-
precedented level of pros-
perity when he reversed
the sluggish growth of the
past 30 years by focusing
on policies that promoted
investment in all three
major sectors services,
manufacturing, and ag-
riculture. Trough this,
he dramatically increased
government revenue that
helped fund expensive in-
frastructure projects, ed-
ucational programs, and
social services. During his
tenure, the unemployment
rate was 1% versus the na-
tional average of 3.8%. Te
GDP there grew at 13.4%
per annum in real terms.
With the expectation of
his electoral victory, every
major investment house
has upgraded their forecast
for the Indian economy,
with Goldman Sachs de-
scribing him as an agent
of change.
Under the current gov-
ernment, led by Dr. Man-
mohan Singh, there have
been many instances of
policy inconsistencies. For
example, when the Union
Cabinet cleared an ordi-
nance to protect criminally
indicted Members of Par-
liament, Rahul Gandhi the
scion of the Nehru-Gandhi
dynasty and the Congress
Partys candidate for PM,
denounced the decision and
described it as complete
nonsense that should be
torn up and thrown away.
Tis was extremely embar-
rassing for the Congress
Party and it displayed Mr.
Gandhis complete lack of
respect for the constitu-
tionally endowed authori-
ty of the Prime Ministers
Ofce. Moreover, corrup-
tion scandals such as the
2G Spectrum scam that
involved the preferential
treatment of some compa-
nies at the cost of the pub-
lic exchequer have been
exposed under the current
governments watch. An-
dimuthu Raja, then Min-
ister for communications
and IT, was incriminated
as the primary conspirator,
and the total shortfall be-
tween the money collected
and the money that the law
mandated was $29 billion,
a fact that is deeply dis-
turbing in a country where
over 250 million people
live under $1.25 per day.
To many supporters, Modi
is seen as a tough adminis-
trator with a no-nonsense
attitude. He understands
the dynamics of authori-
ty and accountability, and
if elected, he will bring a
form of governance that
focuses on decisiveness
and stability.
To his detractors, Modi
is seen as a radical Hindu
fundamentalist who re-
sponded poorly to commu-
nal riots that took place in
his state of Gujarat back in
March of 2002. His oppo-
sition claims that he was
silent during the riots and
failed to show genuine re-
morse. Tese claims are
unsubstantiated as Modis
statement to the people
of Gujarat at the time of
the riots is widely available
on YouTube. Additionally,
critics have dubbed him a
modern-day Nero who
failed to use state machin-
ery to end the rioting. In
a letter written to Digvi-
jay Singh, the chief min-
ister of the neighboring
state of Madhya Pradesh,
on the day the riots broke
out, Modi indicated that
his state was insufcient-
ly equipped to handle the
violence and requested ad-
ditional troops from the
chief minister. Although
his request was denied,
Modi turned to the nation-
al army, which intervened
by the second day and
prevented the riots from
spreading.
Te Supreme
Court of In-
dia ordered
Special In-
v e s t i g a -
tive Teams
(SITs) to in-
vestigate
M o d i s
role in the
riots. Tey
have found
no evidence
that Modi
was directly
involved in the
riots and have
given him a
clean chit. Many
critics, howev-
er, still believe that
Modi infuenced this
investigation in some way
and that crucial documents
were destroyed during the
investigation. Te circum-
stances of the investiga-
tion make this unlikely
the team was set up in
2010 when the Congress
Government was in power
and many politicians were
out to indict Modi of any
potential wrongdoing. Had
there been any evidence,
they could have, and most
likely would have, swayed
the investigation. Te sit-
uation of Muslims in Gu-
jarat paints a diferent
picture of Modis attitude
toward Muslims. Gujarat
has one of the lowest pov-
erty rates among Muslims
in India (7.7%) and is one
of the seven states where
these rates are lower for
Muslims than for Hindus.
Te Congress Party has
tried to shift the rhetoric
to secularism, knowing
that they cannot challenge
his track record. Modi de-
serves to have his chance
of governing India in the
same honest and diligent
way he has governed his
state, and we hope to see a
stronger and more vibrant
India under his leadership.
ercing Rahul Gandhi, son
of party President Sonia
Gandhi and late Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi, to
be the face of the youth of
India. However, Modi still
has to form a government
with at least 200 seats
not belonging to anyone
he can invite over for a
scotch. He and his party
have to work out what
stance they intend to
present toward the other
parties, especially prodi-
gious newcomers like the
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
who are very likely to have
the support of a lot of the
younger voters.
Te NDA and the UPA
(incumbent) are all suc-
cessor organizations of
political parties that came
about during the Inde-
pendence Struggle. Teir
policy often betrays their
outdated ideologies, and
voters, as a result, are of-
ten misguided not only
about their candidates
policy but also about
the real-time solutions
needed to alleviate their
conditions. Te candi-
dates divide the masses
on almost all social is-
sues, and confuse their
own platforms as they
try to trip up the rivals.
But India is on the cusp
of a new kind of struggle.
Te growing class divide,
the educated but unem-
ployed, the threat of two
nuclear neighbors, etc
We need to be reassured
that the individual who
professes secular unity in
his speeches is also going
to act that way once he
steps into the global spot-
light and, in spite of him-
self, becomes the face of a
nation.
last bastion of Hindu na-
tionalism, nurturing rad-
ical outfts such as the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) and Shiv
Sena (Army of Shiva) in
its bosom for decades.
Te outside world and a
lot of the liberals in India
have condemned Modi as
a bad sort ever since the
inter-communal religious
violence in 2002 in the
state of Gujarat whilst he
was Chief Minister. Many
have voiced an opinion
that he did not do enough
to stop the wanton killing
of Muslims by Hindu fa-
natics, who were enraged
after a mob of Muslims in
the city of Godhra burned
a train that was carry-
ing, amongst other pas-
sengers, Hindu pilgrims.
Specifcally the 2002 riots
killed some 790 Muslims
and 254 Hindus in what
was one of the worst cas-
es of sectarian violence in
recent years. Tis election
season, the BJP has had
no choice but to accept
secularism as a priority if
they intend to crash the
Congresss party. In this
highly globalized world,
the future leaders of India
must be able to cooperate
with and make demands
of other international
bodies.
As a developing econ-
omy, India has yet to see
the economic boom it was
said to be on the verge of
just a few years back. Is
Modi the man to lead In-
dia to this future? Unfor-
tunately, Indian politics
are so jaded at this point
that inner party conficts
are the main source of
conversational material
for news agencies. As a
result, there is no hope
that either of the two ma-
jor parties will be able to
sell their whole image as
untarnished. Te BJP has
lucked out with a charis-
matic enough leader to
drive their cart forward.
But it certainly does not
seem to help that the
world at large is skepti-
cal of having this specifc
man in charge given his
dubious track record. Te
emphasis that the media,
and the BJP, have placed
on this one man is typical
of the hero-worshipping
nonsensical drivel that
has driven the political
rhetoric in India and re-
duced the accountability
of the parties. What is
worse is that the ruling
Congress party continues
this trend of mythologiz-
ing individuals (a practice
it largely started) by co-
he country
of India, lap-
ping the feld
as the largest
democracy in
the world, is politically
up for grabs this spring
as the fve week election
process gathers steam in
its quest to name a new
prime minister, cabinet,
and National Legislative
Assembly. So far, the race
has been rather one-sided
with the current opposi-
tion, the Bharatiya Jana-
ta Party (BJP), being the
frontrunner as members
of the larger syndicate
called the National Dem-
ocratic Alliance (NDA).
However, dont let the
title fool you. Tere
is no such thing
as a truly na-
tional party
in India, the
d e mo c r a -
cy is under
ques t i on,
and these
p e o p l e
are about
as allied
as you and
the staf at
Target.
Wel come
to Indian pol-
itics, where
nothing is for
certain, except
for all the uncer-
tainty. Currently,
the most moderate
of predictions are that
the NDA and their post-
er-boy, Narendra Damor-
das Modi, are ready to
collect close to 275 seats
out of the possible 543.
Tis number would give
them a simple majority,
meaning that they would
not have to rely on the
customary practice form-
ing coalitions, a staple of
the Indian election diet
for over 30 years. But
these fgures are almost
always skewed. For one
thing, of the 800 million
potential voters in India,
less than 20% percent
are within reach of urban
polling centers where the
majority of these studies
are conducted (regard-
less of the sample sizes
cited, the studies are in-
herently biased toward
urban voters.) Moreover,
the current ruling par-
ty (United Progressive
Alliance), has often had
great success at the polls
with the votes of the low-
est castes, Muslims, and
other under-nourished
political entities (e.g. the
Buddhists of North-East-
ern India). Te NDA
meanwhile has been the
T T
o
o
BY VIVEK PANDYA BY DEEPTIMAN KAUSHIK