After playing every softball position except for shortstop and pitcher for Occidental, biology major Kristine Kocjan (junior) has found her niche squatting behind home plate. “Playing catcher is fun,” Kocjan said. “You are in charge of calling pitches and can see the whole field.” Kocjan’s years on the diamond have prepared her for the stressful nature of the catching position,...

Exactly one month and one day after Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 crashed off the coast of Thailand, or Australia, or wherever, I found myself sitting in my favorite Vietnamese restaurant with a few friends. Glancing up occasionally at the television tuned to CNN, I noticed that during the hour or so that I was there, the station discussed nothing but...

On a warm and windy Saturday afternoon, the members of the Occidental track and field teams proved that their historic SCIAC Multi Dual 2 meet three weeks ago was no fluke. Once again, the squads posted multiple personal and national bests in the third-and-final SCIAC Multi Dual meet of the season. Kimberly Orpinela (junior) was the top performer on the...

After winning only one game five years ago, the Occidental men’s lacrosse team looks to build upon its success from last year’s 8-4 overall (5-1 Southwestern Lacrosse Conference) record. The squad made the first round of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) playoffs, narrowly losing to Cal State Fullerton by a score of 12-8. Junior midfielder Vincent “Vinny” Vigorita has...

Americans do not appreciate hockey nearly as much as they should. The Stanley Cup Finals ranks as the lowest viewed final of the four major sports; it even ranks lower than sitcom re-runs. What American sports fans fail to see, apparently, is that hockey should rank first among all sports. Those more partial football fans can relish in hockey during...

University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball head coach John Calipari has it easy in recruiting. Occidental’s Brian Newhall? Not so much. Newhall recently shed light on the difficulties and realities of Division-III recruiting and the challenges specific to Occidental. Division-I coaches such as Calipari can sell full academic scholarships, state-of-the-art facilities and a chance to compete at the highest level of...

The Occidental women’s lacrosse team (8-3 overall, 5-1 SCIAC) will look to bounce back from losses to Colorado College and Redlands and regain its lead in the SCIAC standings as it enters the final quarter of the 2014 season. The Tigers had their perfect conference record dashed by reigning SCIAC champion Redlands on Saturday, falling 12-9. “Coming off a tough...

Both the men’s and women’s golf teams struggled in SCIAC #2 at Empire Lakes Golf Course in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., over the weekend. The women finished fifth ahead of Whittier, while the men came in seventh in front of Pomona-Pitzer. Colton Bares (first-year) put together a strong individual performance, posting a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s first round, which would become...

Occidental Softball (2-28 overall, 1-19 SCIAC) The Occidental College softball team attempted to break through a recent offensive slump during its doubleheader against Whittier on Saturday. But it was the Poets who were able to invoke their bats in the morning cap, as they rattled off five runs in the first inning and collected another seven over the final two...

DeSean Jackson is a gang member. Or maybe he is just affiliated. Or maybe he just knows someone who is or was a gang member. At least that is the story on the web; an unconfirmed rumor made fact by news reports. First, it a serious violation of journalism ethics to just print something without multiple sources to confirm facts....