The Weeknd’s ‘Dawn FM’ brilliantly imagines darkness after blinding lights | The Daily Californian
Dawn FM was released by The Weeknd on January 7th, 2022. Since its release the disco album has already been nominated for a Grammy and is regarded as the most well-polished and cohesive piece Abel Makkonen Tesfaye has put out yet. Some of the key components of the album are the live radio introductions and the seamless transitions between each track. When the album is listened to from cover to cover as intended, the listener is able to follow The Weeknd’s journey through purgatory to the afterlife. Featured throughout the album as a radio host is fellow Canadian Jim Carey. On the song titled “Phantom Regret” Carey plays the role of the final judge, questioning the listener about how they have lived their lives. He details the nothingness of the realm they have entered and forces the audience to look at how they have conducted themselves throughout their lives. The ending of the album comes with the line, “you’ve got to be heaven to see heaven,” meaning that no one will be accepted until they have made their piece.
Thundercat makes crowd delirious at The Warfield (dailycal.org)
Thundercat’s performance on December 2nd, 2021, at The Warfield located in San Francisco, California was one for the ages. Fresh off winning a Grammy for the group’s fourth album It Is What It Is, Thundercat’s progressive R&B album was delivered with full confidence to a lucky audience. According to attendees the artist would randomly follow songs with unprompted rants in which the crowd was able to join in on the mic and voice their own opinions on the matter of the moment. The boisterous commentary from Stephen Lee Bruner (lead singer and bass guitarist of Thundercat) made the night feel less akin to a concert and more like a late-night talk show. Speaking from personal experience, I much prefer shows in which the band is enjoying themselves and interacting with the audience than those in which each song is performed note for note the same as on the album. The personality of the artist is essential to understanding their art.
The people of People’s Park (dailycal.org)
By Alexa Alyeshmerni and Cade Johnson and Ian Macgregor and Malini Ramaiyer and Miles Brown and Naira Khalid and Luiz Rioja
This article was written and published by members of the Daily Californian in 2018 in regard to the future of the People’s Park. Amidst a housing crisis in the city of Berkely, the university of the California has identified the historical site as a potential building ground to erect new dormitories. Local outrage has emerged since the public admittance of the school’s intentions just as they did in 1969 when the university purchased the property. The event was given the name “Bloody Thursday” due to the excessive force used by the police and the shootings of 35 local citizens. If the park is developed on all of the violence that the protestors endured would have been for nothing. The rest of the article includes statement from locals who are all have enjoyed the park for years and their thoughts on the development are included. No one was supportive of the destruction of their sanctuary.
Aminé’s Best Tour Ever brings irresistible energy to the Masonic (dailycal.org)
By Afton Okwu
This brief entry published in the Daily Californian covers everything you missed from Amine’s most recent concert at the Masonic in San Francisco. On February 4th he treated the audience to a lesson in self-love and confidence. In between numbers off of his latest album “TWOPOINTFIVE”, Amine invited the crowd to respond, “I know!” if they heard him tell them that they were beautiful at any point during the show. The love of the crowd was instantly won over if they hadn’t already been endeared by his jovial interactions with the front row at the start of the show. As a special treat the artist also performed a version of “Caroline”, one of the most popular songs off of his debut album in 2017. The song began with a lone electric keyboard until the first chorus hit. On the first beat of the chorus the full backing track was blasted through the audience like a shockwave of joy.
Unpredictable Bears hope to show best in battle with Buffs | The Daily Californian
The sports article produced about the University of California Bears men’s basketball team summarized the ups and downs of the season so far and made hopeful predictions about the future of the program. The beginning of the story cites the horrendous loss streak of 10 games winless they have been on recently. Then that information is quickly followed with the surprising statistic that the team had won 9 out of the first 14 games of the season. Throughout the feature the author, Benjamin Coleman, highlights various reasons as to why the program is struggling so much this season and the consequences if they cannot salvage a few more good results. The last few paragraphs are all speculatory with point averages from various players to support the arguments made. As an athlete who has also endured such a rough season, I hope the Bears sort themselves out before it’s too late.
At least it’s not raining (dailycal.org)
This feature story follows the author, Elise Kim’s thoughts on the value of silence and the proper times to speak after a brief conversation with a friend. The beginning of the article is driven by quotes and is incredibly informal. As a result, the reader feels invited to join in on the tangent. The topic being covered is something everyone experiences daily, so it can attract a large audience to whom it will always feel relatable. Think before you speak is the mantra of the article and it is directly stated to the reader in the article thrice in quick succession. After including the casual conversation and her own thoughts as the conversation took place with her friend, it was important to answer the “so what?” The story finishes by asking the reader to consider their own relationships and if they would be dramatically different if certain things hadn’t been said.
Anthropology Library to close Feb. 28 due to staffing shortages (dailycal.org)
The University of California located in Berkeley is closing the Anthropology Library on campus, effective February 28th. Due to long term staff shortages the library became a liability for the University to continue to maintain the building. According to the University’s head librarian the turnover period for new librarians is far too long for the Anthropology center to stay fully staffed. The training period required before starting new hires was four to six months. The insight of the library’s administration is extremely important to include in this piece about why a division of it was being closed. The reader is then likely to question how important the location was to students on campus, that is, if the reader is not a resident themselves. The author immediately follows up the last quote by answering this very question by providing responses from students on campus.
American food isn’t it (dailycal.org)
This article starts out by introducing the topic of the author’s opinions on various foods from different cultures in an extremely informal manner. ‘I’ is used freely throughout the pages, and in an opinion piece that is completely acceptable. The whole intention of having opinion articles is to give the readers something light to take their mind off of their own lives. Throughout the narrative the author poses questions to herself that set her up to an easy answer immediately following. For example, “Can someone be homesick because of food? I don’t know about homesickness, but I surely do feel sentimental,” (Cantu). This use of questions and answers in short succession helps to make the reader feel involved in the discussion. Engaging the reader is key to maintaining readership. As this is an opinion piece there are no quotes included. Quotations are used to provide both sides of the story. We as readers are not here for the full story, we are here to hear about what this specific author thinks.
UC Berkeley must cut 5,100 acceptances after CA Supreme Court ruling (dailycal.org)
This article is hard news in both meanings of the word. Its crushing news for the accepted students of the 2026 class to hear. The Supreme Court has ruled that the University pf California Berkeley must freeze its class size at the same level of the 2020-2021 levels in order to satisfy the Save the Berkeley Neighborhoods organization. In a past article that I covered I had noted a local park which was being replaced/ developed with a dormitory for UCB students. It was attacking the issue from the opposite angle as this piece despite both features being published under the same paper. The newer article approaches and addresses the unfairness the new policy is for students who were already accepted to the University and the other addresses how unfair the development of new buildings for the school is for the local population. Both are true for either party but have completely different intentions.
UC Berkeley women’s ski and snowboard team seeks funding for nationals (dailycal.org)
The UC Berkeley women’s ski and snowboard teams both qualified for a national competition, but because neither is recognized as an NCAA team, they do not receive funding in order to attend the competition. Currently the team has organized a GoFundMe and expressed their situation to students around campus and are relying on the kindness of others to get them there. Normally teams would have run strong campaigns throughout the whole year to gradually build up enough money to cover the trip, however the team has never performed well enough to qualify for nationals. For this reason, they were unprepared for the current situation. An article like this is a means to reach as many people as possible in order to promote awareness and with any luck to receive more funds so that the team can attend the competition as they have earned it. I hope to check back in on the team’s progress next week to kee myself updated on the situation. The author did a good job in making me feel invested and compassionate for the team that could miss out.
Peach Pit’s ‘From 2 to 3’ remains banal indie pop (dailycal.org)
The article written by Kaitlin Clapinski tears into the newest album released by Peach Pit. An few extremely critical paragraphs followed with a 2.5/5 rating truly revels how Clapinski feels about the artists newest work. There are no records of any other opinions or ratings included within this story, and we are left to accept the author’s opinions as fact. I really didn’t enjoy how rutheless this piece was given that most of Clapinski’s claims as to why the album is so “banal” have no measurable validity. The entire thing felt as though she was trying to attack the artist’s hard work. I listened through the album as working my way through the abrasive article and while I can admit I found the five songs which reached my ears came through somewhat dry, I don’t agree with the abuse directed at the songwriter.
Students, staff react to mask mandate end, raise concerns (dailycal.org)
This brief feature covers a similar progression of events regarding the dropping of the mask mandate at UC Berkeley as we have experienced here at UNE. The mandate was dropped on the same exact Monday and equal cries of protest are coming out. Multiple interviews and quotes were taken from around the campus with college students who are on either side of the issue. One of the biggest issues students had with the dropping of the mask mandate was that it seems to have come at an awkward time. COVID 19 cases are still quite high, and students are soon to be returning home where many of them may have immune compromised family members. Those in favor of reinstating the masking requirements claim that the decision was made more due to “Government officials and people, in general, seem more motivated by being exhausted of the pandemic rather than health,” said Lauren Van Dyke. Overall, I really appreciated how this article was constructed. Equal representation of each mindset on the issue is extremely important to include in a polarizing event such as this and the author sought out and included important interviews.
Campus announces extended hours for Doe Library, Main Stacks (dailycal.org)
This article is a great example of hard news that is not life threatening. There is no fluff, no interviews, just a brief report of the facts. The author, Matt Brown, a senior staff member at the University of California in Berkeley immediately begins the summary by informing the audience of the changes, which are that the Doe Library and Main Stacks will be extending their hours. This means that the UC Berkeley Library will remain open until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday following March 28th. The new hours were able to be established as a result of the campus emergency relief funding. Librarians are now able to be paid for the extra time they are now required t stay for whereas before their hours had been cut short due to minimal funding. As someone who uses the library hours every day of the week I understand how important it is to have the silent study areas and books open to all students for the maximum amount of time possible.
I really hate to do this, but (dailycal.org)
In an opinion piece published within the Californian, written by Kathryn Conley, the author dives deep into her own person struggles of burnout and illness that have distinctly altered her college experience. She speaks at length about how other simply don’t understand her, and as someone from across the entire nation who has never met her, I would not count myself as an exception, however when she describes no one understanding her everyday pains and inconveniences I doubt her. There is always someone who has it worse. I am reviewing an opinion piece, so I feel entitled to provide my own as a response. It is articles like these that make me question the purpose of opinion pieces. This one is clearly not meant as a call to action for others, uniting them against anything in particular, or a harmless my favorite blank is… Instead, I could see this being polarizing to readers who don’t agree or believe the author truly has a sh*t situation she is living in from day to day. I have no problem with her claims and feel sympathetic throughout but the target audience for this article puzzles me.
‘Do our part’: Gov. Newsom unveils water conservation plan (dailycal.org)
This publication is a recommunication from Rachel Barber about the Californian drought plaguing the state currently and reminding everyone that they need to do everything in their power to cut back on unnecessary use of water. A new water conservation plan was rolled out by Gavin Newsom, the governor of California this past week, and statistics, and figures from the address was included in the Daily Californian’s regurgitation. The piece does a good job at removing bureaucratic language which was forced to be used in the new plan and simplifying it for the average person to consume with ease. A nice touch that a staff member at the school must have contributed themselves was to highlight and mark where within the state that Berkeley lies in order to orient those who may not be familiar with the area such as myself.
Weekender | Student in retrograde: A personal essay (dailycal.org)
This article captures my own insecurities and self-doubts perfectly. The author, Lauren Martinez is a student at UC Berkeley, but never had she considered that it was where she wanted to be. Following each paragraph is a repetition of the most important idea of each section. My personal favorite is, “With all of the possible people I could have been and paths I could have taken, I never know if I’m picking the right version.” It helps slow those who would have potentially skipped through the article by offering them up in large font, what they could be missing out on in one sentence. I really appreciate how this article is not complaining about the author’s aimlessness, but instead simply noting its existence. Just because we are amateur wanderers does not mean that it is in vain. The article even ends on a reassuring note, telling the readers that while you may not have planned who you are today it is the exact path that your decisions have laid out for you and if you have lived ethically, you should be happy with where you have been brought to.
Leonard Griffin hired as Cal men’s soccer head coach (dailycal.org)
As someone who keeps extremely up to date with the on goings of European football, the past two weeks have been excruciating. All domestics leagues were placed on hold for the international break. While world cup qualifiers can be exciting, the matches are often one sided. In my time of need I turned to this article to satiate my hunger for soccer news. This article provides a recap of the Cal men’s soccer previous head coach and his 22 years at the university then moves on to introduce the next in line, Leonard Griffin. I found this article particularly interesting as the piece is essentially the combination of two separate profiles. There is only a brief connecting sentence to bridge the gap between two different articles. Obviously, the subjects are directly correlated, however I think they should have been completely separated to ensure a cohesive tone throughout the article.
Spring break is a state of mind (dailycal.org)
The author in this article walks the reader through her own spring break and lack of apprehensions or worries once she set herself free on a much-needed trip. The split decision from Rachel Chipner to fly out to LA is extremely similar to my own experience from this past spring break. I have been gradually become more and more frustrated by my own lack of exploring and experience gathering I have done in my life, and I understand that nothing will change unless I actually take action and do something about it. Similar to the author, I randomly called a friend one day and said, “we’re going to the Outer Banks” and that was it. We went. After a long 12-hour drive and even more playlists, we set up a tent and spent a week out in the dunes. I had no worries other than when the waves coming. Chipner echoed my own feeling in her article, “The only thing that I had to stress about was whether or not I wanted an iced coffee or matcha that day. It was simple, easy and effortlessly “spring break.”
‘I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain’ (dailycal.org)
Another opinion piece from the student author, Kathryn Conley detailing her struggles with mental health. The first entry I had included from her failed to dive deeply into what her actual symptoms were. It had raised questions for me as a reader about what exactly she was experiencing. I was a great way at inviting a reader back to complete the full story of Kathryn Conley. A second reason I was dragged back to her story was that within the brief abstract she had noted that she was suffering from migraines, something that I have been familiar with my entire life. Making articles relatable for the readers is key and this one was an eye-opening article for those with a lack of perspective on how bad it can truly be. She acknowledges the same idea within her own paper, stating that even though she had been sent to the emergency room after collapsing, many people may have died and for that she was thankful.
Top 3 competitive esports to watch in 2022 | The Daily Californian
UNE is currently working on establishing a few new esports teams and this article caught my eye as it had the potential to educate me on what some of the emerging games are. The article begins with an introductory paragraph for those who may not understand the scale of audience that esports commands. This is important because it does not eliminate any readers who have meandered their way to this article immediately. If the author had decided to dive right into the highlighted games, some people would have certainly clicked off of the article fearing that the information was going ot go over their heads. Each game is headed in bold then followed with a section detailing how many viewers it has on streaming platforms such as Twitch, the number of players and the potential earnings of players. Overall, this article is an extremely entry level piece meant to appeal to those who understand very little about the esports industry.
