Mustang Daily 06-01-09

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CA L I F O R N I A P O LY T E C H N I C S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y Vasser College develops predator and prey robots to study evolution.

IN NEWS, 6

Volume LXXIII, Number 156

The Cal Poly men’s soccer team played Club America over the weekend.

IN SPORTS, 16

Monday, June 1, 2009

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Fight night raises funds for injured Poly student Mikaela Akuna mustang daily

kristen hays mustang daily

As ASI president, Angela Kramer witnessed budget cuts, several student deaths, and a resurgence of discussion concerning campus diversity. She promoted college affordability and sustainabilty during her time.

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Imagine meeting parents who are grieving the loss of their 18-year-old son to tell them you are sorry for his death. Associated Students Inc. President Angela Kramer took it upon herself to do just that.

“I was biting a hole in my cheek so I didn’t cry,” she explained. “I held it together pretty well until his dad said something about bringing Carson home to Texas; I was shaking under the table.”

Kramer emphasized that she values each member of the Cal Poly community as her family. Last December, Kramer felt as though she had lost three of her own as she sat in an office, contemplating how to face Carson Starkey’s mother; police said his death was alcohol-related, linked to Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s hazing rituals.

“The hardest part was that it was our fault, it was like, ‘My family took your 18-year-old son away,’” Kramer said.“(SAE members) took him to the hospital and he started throwing up so they thought he was fine, so they put him to bed and found him the next morning — cold. How do you tell a mom that? How do you look at her and say ‘I am sorry?’”

Talk emerged regarding the removal of the greek system from Cal Poly soon after the event, a motion Kramer, an unofficial Gamma Phi Beta sorority member who will have alumni member status when she graduates, was strongly against, citing the thousands of dollars the greek system raises in philanthropic events.

“Unfortunately, certain organizations have taken it upon themselves to participate in those kind of actions and we shut that down,” she said, making it clear that she thinks the actions of few do not represent the entire system. “That fraternity was not only kicked off campus but was removed

When I said publicly that I was against the fee increase ... it was against the state turning its back on higher education, which is the biggest crime.

—Angela Kramer 2008-09 ASI President

from nationals.”

ASI presidents are often faced with unexpected obstacles and Kramer’s experience was no exception. Her response to issues such as the controversial symbols displayed by the students at the crop house last fall, three student deaths during fall quarter and fiscal shortcomings shaped Kramer’s presidency. She focused on the positive results of each event, noting that the racially-charged symbols demonstrated by those in the crop house

spurred her ideas to improve on-campus diversity, such as the Inclusive Excellence Model and its related diversity learning objectives (DLOs).

“I don’t know if they would’ve come to fruition this quickly,” Kramer said. “Whenever anything like that happens it can divide a community; people from the outside see this as a reflection of the community as a whole, but it’s not like that.”

Empower Poly Coalition membership coordinator Jorge Montezuma appreciated Kramer’s drive to institute change after the crop house incident by working with the administration to turn the event into a proactive turning point. The Inclusive Excellence Model was set forth to make students feel more comfortable by proposing a set of guidelines that teachers must adhere to when teaching their classes.

This may include anything from writing anti-discrimination policies in the syllabus to mediating diversity issues in the classroom, Kramer said, adding that the DLOs are quite aggressive and “really have some teeth.”

“I think we freaked out the faculty a bit with them,” she said.“We’re really serious about them, every single class needs to have a component within this model; (they have merited) really positive results.”

She said that while the institution of these objectives is one of her most substantial accomplishments, Cal Poly needs to maintain the program by making sure all of the departments are turning in progress reports to verify they are actually following through see Kramer, page 2

Local fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon put on their boxing gloves last Sunday as a fundraiser for its brother, Cal Poly student John Murphy, who has undergone six surgeries after falling out of a fourth story window last July.

More than 300 people attended Fight Night Fight Night, a huge increase from last year’s approximate 200 people.

It grossed more than $5,000. $700 of which was from raffle money. The raffle prize was a 40-inch flat screen television donated by Mead Enterprises.

T-shirts and “John Murphy” wrist bands were also sold and

contributed to the total. After expenses, the fraternity will donate all of the proceeds, more that $2,000, to the John Murphy Medical Fund.

Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Fight Night is their annual philanthropy that usually benefits the youth AIDS foundation.

This year, however, the fraternity decided to help Murphy’s family with all of the medical expenses.

Each fighter was asked to train with SLO Kickboxing for three months to prepare for the event. It started with 30 contenders and the final 18 went through a rigorous training process where they learned see Fight Night, page 3

courtesy photo

Sigma Phi Epsilon raised more than $2,000 to donate to the medical fund of John Murphy, a student who was injured last summer.

Source: Suspect in custody in abortion doctor slaying Roxana Hegeman associated press

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Prominent late-term abortion provider George Tiller was shot and killed Sunday in a Wichita church where he was serving as an usher, his attorney said. The gunman fled but a city official said a suspect is in custody.

The city official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. The official did not provide additional details.

Long a focus of national anti-abortion groups, including a summer-long protest in 1991, Tiller was shot during morning services at Reformation Lutheran Church while his wife was in the choir, his attorney Dan Monnat said. Police said the gunman had fled in a car see Tiller, page 2

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News editor: Rachel Glas; News designer: Omar Sanchez

Kramer continued from page 1

with the guidelines.

During her presidency, Kramer made nearly a dozen trips to Sacramento to reestablish Cal Poly on a state level by reconnecting with California State Student Association for the first time in 20 years, Kramer said. She sat in on higher education committee meetings and formed relationships with various congressman such as California State Assembly Republican Member Sam Blakeslee.

“Especially when a time where Cal Poly has already differentiated itself with the College Based Fees, we need to have the support of the legislature to keep going forward while at the same time emphasizing subsidizing state education,” Kramer said. “It is very important that the chancellor is aware of the things that we are doing and we are aware of his perspective. With student fee hikes we need to have an active role in those discussions and at the same time protect our own autonomy.”

Kramer generally didn’t approve of cutting programs or increasing taxes, evident in her public opposition to the increase of the College Based Fees (CBFs), but indicated that isn’t always the case.

“I was a big supporter of the Health Center fee increase; as a hypochondriac I go to the Health Center every two weeks. I have one of the doctor’s numbers on speed dial,” she joked.

Kramer felt that the CBF in-

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crease was essential to preserve the Cal Poly’s academic integrity, but was a testament to the state ignoring education as a whole and allocating its funding to entities such as correctional facilities.

“When I said publicly that I was against the fee increase, it wasn’t against the Cal Poly administration and the fee increase, it was against the state turning its back on higher education, which is the biggest crime,” she said.

“It blows my mind how Californians are so OK with mediocre education; they are so OK with a 50 percent retention rate in high schools; they are so OK with the average CSU graduation rate of 47 percent (Cal Poly’s is about 70 percent),” Kramer added.“That to me is a serious reflection of a mismanagement from the top.”

Kramer has been actively working with the CSU Chancellor’s office to push for increasing CBFs, a measure 78 percent of those who voted during Cal Poly’s CBF referendum pushed for.

“The chancellor didn’t really have a right to tell us we couldn’t do it. He asked us respectfully to pause. Who knows if the hike from the trustees is going to go up, it’s only 10 percent,” she said, adding that Cal Poly costs the most out of the California State Universities to educate students but is given the least amount of money.

The political science senior also focused her attention on a greener campus with initiatives such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification of facilities and the The Green Initiative

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Fund (TGIF).

Poly Canyon Village was the first LEED certified building at Cal Poly and the largest in the CSU system; it earned the certification through energy conservation, water efficiency, emissions reduction and minimal use of resources.

In terms of the Recreation Center expansion vote, more people voted for its LEED certification than the expansion in itself, said Tyler Hartrich, secretary of sustainability on the ASI Executive Cabinet.

Yet, certification is an expensive endeavor that can cost thousands of

dollars in order to assess the building and undergo all of the testing and paperwork. Thus, many schools vie for LEED equivalent, which doesn’t need to be assessed by a third party and is less specific in terms of which LEED standards the building abides by, Hartrich said.

The TGIF program will generate grants for student-led sustainability projects at Cal Poly. It requires a $5 raise in tuition fees, but is currently put on hold due to the hike in student fees.

“So many student projects are amazing but they just get done on

Monday, June 1, 2009

paper and nothing happens after that,” Montezuma said. “(TGIF) makes the projects a reality.”

Kramer has confidence that newly-elected ASI President Kelly Griggs will transition into the position well.

“It has been the time of my life,” Kramer said.

“When you are elected you think you know everything; you spend the summer learning, reading everything, meeting everyone.You make a lot of mistakes and grow into it and hopefully you come out as a stronger person.”

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ASI President Angela Kramer presented a review of the year in the last ASI meeting of the year.

Monday, June 1, 2009

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News

Tiller

Fight Night

continued from page 1

continued from page 1

registered in Merriam, a Kansas City suburb nearly 200 miles away.

Tiller’s Women’s Health Care Services clinic is one of just three in the nation where abortions are performed after the 21st week of pregnancy.

Tiller’s killing is “an unspeakable tragedy,” his widow, four children and 10 grandchildren said in statement issued by Monnat. “This is particularly heart-wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace.”

The family said its loss “is also a loss for the city of Wichita and women across America. George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence.”

A protester shot Tiller in both arms in 1993, and his clinic was bombed in 1985.

More recently, Monnat said Tiller had asked federal prosecutors to step up investigations of vandalism and other threats against the clinic out of fear that the incidents were increasing and that Tiller’s safety was in jeopardy.

In early May, Tiller had asked the FBI to investigate vandalism at his clinic, including cut wires to surveillance cameras and damage to the roof that sent rainwater pouring into the building.

Anti-abortion groups denounced the shooting and stressed that they support only nonviolent protest. The movement’s leaders fear the killing could create a backlash just as they are scrutinizing U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, whose views on abortion rights are not publicly known.

“We are shocked at this morning’s disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down,” Troy Newman, Operation Rescue’s president, said in a statement. “Operation Rescue

how to fight properly, ensuring that no one would get seriously hurt.

The event was held at The Graduate and featured nine fights. Each fight was made up of three minute-and-a-half rounds.

“We had a lot of help from the guys in our house and it was great to see so much support from the greek community, along with everyone else who came,” public relations representative and Sigma Phi Epsilon brother Joe Trupiano said.

“A lot of (John’s) friends came out to help as well, being the ring girls and other things like that.”

“It was a little harder to get sponsors this year because of the economy,” cocoordinator of Fight Night and economics senior Andrew de la Pena said. “A lot of businesses just didn’t have it in their budget.”

Murphy’s parents drove down from the Bay Area to see the boxing matches.

According to Trupiano, the family was astounded to see such a huge turnout.

“They kept telling us how blessed they felt that some many people came out in support,” Trupiano recalled.

“They said that he might even be able to make it out to next year’s event.”

De la Pena said that the event was a success overall and it seemed like everyone had a good time.

“It was really good to see the family out there and enjoying it,” he added. “The coolest part was seeing everyone having fun. It was really crowded and most of the seats were full.

“The fans were really well-behaved.”

orlin wagnere associated press

The body of Dr. George Tiller is removed from the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kan., Sunday, May 31, 2009. The attorney for Tiller says the late-term abortion provider was shot and killed at his church in Wichita. has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning.”

In 1991, the Summer of Mercy protests organized by Operation Rescue drew thousands of anti-abortion activists to this city for demonstrations marked by civil disobedience and mass arrests.

Tiller began providing abortion services in 1973. He acknowledged abortion was as socially divisive as slavery or prohibition but said the issue was about giving women a choice when dealing with technology that can diagnose severe fetal abnormalities before a baby is born.

After the 1991 protests, Tiller kept mostly to his heavily guarded clinic, although in 1997 he opened it to three tours by state lawmakers and the media.

Tiller remained prominent in the news, in part because of an investigation started begun by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, an abortion opponent.

Prosecutors had alleged that Tiller had gotten second opinions from a doctor who was essentially an employee of his, not independent as state law requires. A jury in March acquitted Tiller of all 19 misdemeanor counts.

“I am stunned by this lawless and violent act, which must be condemned and should be met with the full force of law,” Kline said in a written statement. “We join in lifting prayer that God’s grace and presence rest with Dr. Tiller’s family and friends.”

Abortion opponents also questioned thenGov. Kathleen Sebelius’ ties to Tiller before the Senate confirmed her this year as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary. Tiller donated thousands of dollars to Sebelius over the years.

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News

Calif. Gay marriage opponents ready to rally State Briefs

paul sakuma associated press

A same-sex marriage proponent, left, argues with opponent, right in front of City Hall after the California State Supreme Court ruled in San Francisco, last Tuesday.

Garance Burke associated press

Hundreds of gay marriage supporters marched in rural, conservative California, but before the dusty roads could clear, opponents of same-sex couples planned to take to the streets to renew their resolve.

The outfits that helped persuade voters to ban gay marriage in the state Constitution in November will on Sunday celebrate weddings between men and women at Fresno City Hall, while nearly a dozen religious and social conservative groups planned a similar rally in San Diego.

Just a day earlier, gay marriage advocates marched along dusty roads,

saying they wouldn’t be dissuaded the state Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Proposition 8, which enshrined the ban on gay marriage in the state Constitution The gay marriage supporters pledge to put a new initiative before voters to overturn the ban — perhaps as soon as next year — and to take their message to Washington in October.

But there were skeptical residents, some of whom showed up Saturday just to see what all the commotion was about.

Tom Johnson, 57, a disabled Vietnam veteran from Clovis, a Fresno suburb, said voters already made their choice.

“I’m against people coming into our community with those viewpoints. I just can’t accept it,” Johnson said. “People already voted yes on Prop. 8. That’s the law and we should follow it.”

The event attracted veteran activists and celebrities, including Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron and Eric McCormack. It was organized by a lesbian mother in Fresno who was removed from the parent-teacher association at her son’s Catholic school after she spoke out against banning same-sex weddings.

“Fresno represents middle America values, and we can start changing our neighbors’ feelings about gay marriage beginning right here in the Central Valley,” said lead organizer Robin McGehee, a 36-year-old college professor who married her longtime partner last year. “We’re doing exactly what the freedom riders would do in the South in the 1960s, which is reaching into communities that are different from us so we can all live in equality.”

Paying homage to the 1965 marches in Selma, Ala., that marked the peak of the civil rights movement, the “Meet in the Middle 4 Equality” protest began Saturday morning in Selma, Calif., the self-proclaimed raisin capital of the world.

Hundreds of spirited marchers were escorted by the California Highway Patrol along an aging highway to Fresno, a city of more than 450,000 and the largest in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley. On the

lawn adjacent to City Hall, organizers flew a massive rainbow flag on loan from San Francisco’s Castro District, the nexus of the city’s gay and lesbian community.

Some wore wedding dresses or carried rainbow flags, a symbol of support for gay rights.

Many gay activists now believe their campaign against Proposition 8 focused too much on liberal urban enclaves along the coast, failing even to reach out to the state’s rural regions.

The measure passed with nearly 69 percent of the vote in Fresno County, compared to 52 percent statewide.

“We aren’t here to impose our beliefs on anyone. We are here to begin a dialogue on civil rights,” said Cleve Jones, a pioneer activist and protege of Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s first openly gay leader who was slain in 1978. “Harvey said we can’t win unless we open up our hearts to connecting with people who appear to be very different from us.”

The campaign’s next phase will train thousands of volunteers and faith leaders to canvass door-to-door to talk about the issue with neighbors, said Rick Jacobs, chair of the Courage Campaign. Representatives from all 50 states will march on Washington on October 11 to coincide with National Coming Out Day, Jacobs said.

“We’re not doing what we used to do, which is meet in West Hollywood,” Jacobs said. “We want people from all 435 congressional districts to tell their stories in Washington.”

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. price of gasoline jumped 19 cents a gallon during the past two weeks, but remains well below prices from a year ago.

That’s according to the national Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday.

Analyst Trilby Lundberg says the average price of regular gasoline was $2.49 a gallon Friday, when the survey was completed.That’s up 54 cents from ten weeks ago, with most of the rise occurring during May. The average price for a gallon of mid-grade was $2.62. Premium was at $2.73.The lowest price in California was $2.65 a gallon in Fresno and Bakersfield, and the highest was $2.72 in San Francisco.

•••

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The state Lands Commission is holding a public hearing Monday on a resolution urging the Legislature not to support what could lead to California’s first new offshore drilling project in more than 40 years.

The commission rejected an offshore drilling proposal in Santa Barbara in January. But with the state facing a huge budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking the Legislature to resurrect the project as a way to boost state revenue.

The governor’s office has said Schwarzenegger doesn’t see the move as a lapse in his promise to oppose offshore drilling because the project falls within an exception in the state moratorium.

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Word on the Street

Do you think Angela Kramer accomplished what she set out to do as ASI President?

“It’s hard to get everyone motivated with so many people on campus but I think she has done a really good job this year, especially with recycling.”

-Melissa Bernardo, chemistry junior “I definitely think she promoted the sustainability issue on campus, with the goal to have it achieved in the future. I think she succeeded with going green on campus.”

-Devin Maguire, political science sophomore

“I thought she did a really good job standing up for the rights of students and giving a voice to students in regard to the College Based Fees. I really enjoy a move toward a greener campus.”

-Lauren Stupek, English senior

“I think she did a great job because I’m green and so is she so to me she is awesome.”

-Brandon Lewis, business senior

compiled and photographed by ashley cuillo

News

Wire Editor: Cassandra J. Carlson

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Study: LAPD improved since corruption scandals A Harvard University study released Friday of the Los Angeles Police Department found the department greatly improved since corruption scandals forced it under a federal consent decree in 2002.

The Kennedy School of Government’s study, which was commissioned last year by police Chief William Bratton, found the LAPD has reduced crime since the decree was enacted but continued to alienate some minorities who claimed officers treated them unfairly.

The study included observation of officers and focus groups and surveys of officers, residents and peo-

ple who had been arrested by the LAPD. Researchers found that officers were making more pedestrian and vehicle stops, and more of those were leading to arrests and felony prosecutions. The analysis found that crime is down across the city and most residents do not see crime as a major problem.

Surveys also found that some Hispanic and black residents were not satisfied with the department and felt officers did not treat them respectfully.

The department entered the consent decree after the Depart-

ment of Justice threatened to sue the city over a pattern of police misconduct. Two high profile cases from the 1990s included the beating of Rodney King and the scandal at its Rampart division, in which officers beat, shot and framed suspects, dealt drugs and covered up their crimes.

The study said the department has improved with help from a tracking system that helps supervisors identify officers who generate more civilian complaints and use more force than their peers. It also credited software that allows precinct leaders to target resources at crime-prone areas.

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Robots with fins, tails demonstrate evolution

mike groll associated press

Vassar College biology and cognitive science professor John Long, second from right, and his students look on as swimming robots navigate in a science lab pool in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. last April.

Michael Hill associated press

Robots wag their tail fins and bob along like bathtub toys in a pool at a Vassar College lab. Their actions are dictated by microprocessors housed in round plastic containers, the sort you’d store soup in.

It hardly looks like it, but the two swimming robots were set loose in the little pool to study evolution,

acting out predator-prey encounters from roughly 540 million years ago.

The prey robot, dubbed Preyro, can simulate evolution.

This is not like robot evolution in the “Terminator” movie sense of machines turning on their human masters. Instead, Vassar biology and cognitive science professor John Long and his students can make changes to the tail of Preyro to see which designs help it avoid the predator robot.

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News

“We’re applying selection,” Long explains, “just like natural selection.”

Long is among a small group of researchers worldwide studying biology and evolution with the help of robots that can do things like shimmy through water or slither up shores. Long’s robots, for instance, test theories on the development of stiffer backbones.The researchers believe the machines will catch on as technological advances allow robots to mimic animals far better than before.

Microprocessors are now tinier and more sophisticated. Building materials are more pliable. The same technology driving the use of electronic prosthetic limbs and vacuuming robots also is giving scientists a sophisticated tool to study biology.

“In the past, if you think about it, robots wouldn’t work because we could only make these big metal things with rotating joints that were really stiff ... and that’s not how nature is,” said Robert J. Full, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Full’s lab at Berkeley has built robots that can creep like cockroaches or climb like geckos. In Switzerland, researchers built a bright yellow salamander robot a few years ago that can swim and walk to investigate see Robots, page 7

Bausch & Lomb settles 600 eye fungus lawsuits Ben Dobbin associated press

Contact lens maker Bausch & Lomb Inc. had an overriding reason for going private in 2007: It wanted to handle a devastating recall of its flagship lens cleaner, its chief executive said, “without a lot of outside distraction.”

Over the past year, away from the glare of public scrutiny, the optical products company has quietly settled nearly 600 fungal-infection lawsuits — with dozens more individual claims yet to be resolved. The cost so far: Upward of $250 million.

More than 700 lens wearers in the United States and Asia say they were exposed to a potentially blinding infection known as Fusarium keratitis while using ReNu with MoistureLoc, a new-formula multipurpose solution for cleaning, storing and moistening soft contact lenses.

Sometimes, the damage was irreparable. Seven people in Florida, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Tennessee and West Virginia had to have an eye removed. At least 60 more Americans needed vision-saving corneal transplants.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 180 cases in 35 states from June 2005 through September 2006, when the agency’s dedicated surveillance stopped, according to Dr. Benjamin Park, a CDC epidemiologist. CDC continued to hear of sporadic, unconfirmed cases in the months after MoistureLoc was withdrawn, Park said.

“Surveillance usually captures the tip of the iceberg and sometimes it captures a larger tip than other times,” Park said in an interview.

Among out-of-court settlements reached in May was a potential bellwether case brought by Andrea Martin, a Broadway actress and comedienne whose eye was scarred. In Colorado, a corneal transplant ended a race-car driver’s career. In Baltimore, a chimney-sweep business owner who lost an eye got hooked on painkillers.

“It left him with a chronic pain situation where at one point he had to go through drug rehab,” said attorney Andy Alonso. “His business — handed down from generation to generation in his family — has fallen apart, his marriage has fallen apart and he now lives with his mother.”

The culprit, an infection so rare that most eye doctors had never seen a case, somehow eluded MoistureLoc’s disinfecting defenses. The outbreak appeared first in Hong Kong in spring 2005 and reached its peak in the United States just days after MoistureLoc was removed from domestic markets in April 2006.

Victims typically complained of

eye irritation that progressed to a sudden onset of searing pain. Many were mistakenly treated with antibiotics and steroids — a delayed diagnosis that worsened the condition.

A woman in New York was afflicted three months after Bausch & Lomb announced a worldwide recall in May 2006.

“She didn’t know about the recall, and the infection was so aggressive, she lost her eye within two months,” said her attorney, Hunter Shkolnik.

Leading eye doctors and government scientists concluded that MoistureLoc, launched in 2004 with novel disinfectant and moisturizing ingredients, was the only lens solution that contributed to the outbreak. Yet the mechanics of how it caused the problem are still not fully clear.

Some researchers theorize that the disinfectant, alexidine, absorbed into lenses at unusually high rates and the moisturizing agents created a biofilm in some circumstances that shielded and even fostered growth of the fungus to infectious levels.

With some fungal lawsuits still unresolved, the prospect of Bausch & Lomb’s health care nightmare being aired in court has not entirely faded — which heartens some lawyers and doctors.

“The truth has been very carefully buried, and it appears to have been buried going back to the beginnings of the outbreak,” said Dr. Arthur Epstein, who was chairman of the American Optometric Association’s contact lens and cornea section during the highly publicized crisis.

“All settlements were predicated on silence about the clinical findings and blame and so forth. My hope was that what actually happened would become part of public record in a courtroom. That way, we’d be able to learn from it and move on and make sure it never happened again.”

Multipurpose solutions have been on the market for over a decade, all but replacing older systems for rinsing and cleaning lenses.

In 2007, another popular formula made by Santa Ana, Calif.-based Advanced Medical Optics, the No. 3 manufacturer behind Alcon Inc. and Bausch & Lomb, was linked to a flurry of hard-to-treat Acanthamoeba keratitis infections caused by a parasite. More than 170 people have sued the company, which was acquired this year by Abbott Laboratories.

The Food and Drug Administration is poised to lay out more comprehensive testing standards for lens solutions.

“We did take the two epidemsee Lawsuits, page 7

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News Lawsuits

Wire Editor: Cassandra J. Carlson

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continued from page 6

mike groll associated press

A robotic tail fin, whose actions are dictated by microprocessors housed in the attached Tupperware container, is seen in professor John Long’s Vassar College science lab.

Robots continued from page 6

vertebrates’ transition from water to land. They posted a Web video of the robot squirming out of Lake Geneva.

At Harvard University, George Lauder, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, studies fish locomotion with the aid of robotic fins.

He says scientists are not trying to build spitting images of animals, but rather to mimic certain characteristics — a fin or a spinal column — to study how they work. Scientists then alter that characteristic to see how it affects performance.

The small amount of robot research performed so far has yet to dramatically alter evolutionary studies, but it has helped researchers evolve their understanding of some animals.

Consider Madeleine the swimming robot. Madeleine is roughly the size and shape of a big bed pillow with four flippers sticking from its sides, but it was used to study a 45-ton marine reptile that patrolled the seas in the Jurassic Period.

Fossil records show that the massive pliosaur, dubbed Predator X, had two sets of largely symmetrical flippers, indicating the animal used all four to swim. Long said that sets Predator X apart from modern animals like otters, sea lions and turtles, which tend to use one set of flippers for propulsion and the other for steering.

Researchers studying Predator X asked Long to investigate why the creature used all four flippers for swimming. Madeleine was programmed to swim with two flippers, then all four. The robot demonstrated that using four flippers to swim could be a bad proposition, energy-wise. But they do provide a sort of turbo-boost for quick accelerations — handy for catching dinner.

“The otter and the pliosaur both swim the same speed,” Long said,“but,

man, that pliosaur can really take off.”

The Preyro robot experiment allows Long to take his evolutionary studies a step further.

By setting up Preyro in a pool with another autonomous robot — a predator named Tadiator — Long and his students simulated an evolutionary scenario.They wanted to examine qualities that would help vertebrate sea creatures of the Cambrian Period forage for food without becoming lunch for predators. Specifically, they wanted to test the hypothesis that the ancient creatures’ need to scoot away fast from predators drove the evolution of stiffer tails.

Students could stiffen Preyro’s backbone by fitting plastic rings (representing vertebrae) over a jellylike column running down the tail designed to simulate the biological structures of ancient sea creatures.

More rings made for a stiffer tail.

They found that changing the size of Preyro’s tail fin had no effect, but that backbones stiffened with vertebrae helped Preyro swim away from danger faster. Seven vertebra worked the best; any more made the tail too stiff. They concluded that the evolution of multiple vertebrae could have been influenced by the need to avoid predators while foraging.

Robot builders like Long still use computer simulations to complement their work. But Long says swimming robots like Madeleine and Preyro have advantages over computer simulations because it is extremely difficult to simulate the interaction between a flexible solid — like an animal’s tail — and a liquid.

“The thing about robots is, robots can’t violate the laws of physics,” he said. “A computer program can.”

Lauder said there’s no substitute for building a device that can replicate the minutely complex features of an animal. He expects the rise of robots in biological research to accelerate as more advances are made.

ics as very much of a wake-up call, because contact lens safety is an essential public health issue,” said Dr. Malvina Eydelman, director of the agency’s ophthalmic division.

Financial analysts and lawyers estimate the MoistureLoc debacle could wind up costing as much as $500 million.

But far more draining for Bausch & Lomb has been losing its dominance in the lucrative lens care market: 2.3 million of the nation’s 30 million soft lens wearers used MoistureLoc, generating $100 million in annual sales.

While Bausch says it has settled “the vast majority of fungal infection cases,” it is challenging another 500-plus lawsuits linking MoistureLoc to assorted bacterial, viral and parasitic afflictions.

A pretrial hearing set for June 3-5 in New York will decide if there’s a reliable scientific basis for arguing such a link.

Alissa Lynch, 21, of Thompson, Conn., said she developed a parasitic infection while using MoistureLoc in college in New Hampshire.

It left her with a vision-blurring scar that took a year to heal.

“We went through hell and spent a lot of money to save that eye,” said her father, Brian, who eventually decided against seeking damages. “We’re just that kind of people. I don’t think anybody intentionally looked to hurt anybody’s eyes.”

david duprey associated press

Bausch & Lomb Inc. World Headquarters is photographed in Rochester, N.Y., last Wednesday.

When Bausch & Lomb was acquired by private equity firm Warburg Pincus for $3.67 billion in October 2007, Chief Executive Ronald Zarrella said the deal would allow the company “to pursue the growth path we were on ... without a lot of outside distraction.”

Zarrella retired last year.

The 156-year-old Rochesterbased company, which posted $2.5 billion in 2007 sales, employs 13,000 people and expects to return to public ownership within the next six years.

“They can do all this out of the public eye — guys like me aren’t sitting there scrutinizing the financial impact of every single settlement,” said analyst Jeff Johnson of Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee. “You can completely focus on your brand and on doing what’s right by the patient.”

Bausch & Lomb resorted to pushing an older product, ReNu MultiPlus, to try to shore up its battered lens care business. But those sales dropped from $522 million in 2005 to about $450 million in 2008, while Alcon’s rose from $297 million to $469 million, said analyst Peter Bye of Jefferies & Co. in New York.

The knock on profits was more acute. With MultiPlus already sold under generic or retailer-chain labels, Alcon’s share of branded solutions is “much higher than Bausch’s,” Bye said. “When you talk about (lens-care) boxes going out to new patients, it’s up in the 60-70 percent range in the U.S.” Alcon’s multipurpose formula was untarnished and “that’s why they’re cleaning up,” Bye said, adding that “the stasis at the FDA means this competitive imbalance is continuing.”

10

Bridget Veltri MUSTANG DAILY

Alex Pryor and David Karr do not take cream and sugar with their tea. The Cal Poly alums prefer their brew from deep in the jungle, and thanks to Pryor’s senior project they are now bringing it to you in a way that is helping sustain the world.

Yerba mate tea may be from South America but the Guayaki tea company has its roots in San Luis Obispo.

“Being from Argentina I grew up drinking mate almost everyday so when I came here I brought it, taking it to class and the study sessions, it is a great study friend as well,” Pryor said. “I did my senior project in the different forms of presenting yerba mate to different markets. It was geared toward how we can present it to the markets I went a little bit into the nutritional aspects of it, but the focus of the thesis was more food science.”

The name Guayaki honors the

Mustang Daily

Arts & eNtertAiNMeNt

indigenous people that inhabited the Atlantic forest. Pryor and Karr founded Guayaki in 1996, and their products hit the shelves in 1997. The two met in 1995 at what was once Peat’s Southside café when they were seniors at Cal Poly. Pryor, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina had grown up drinking mate and brought it with him to the states and introduced it to his friends, eventually selling it to a local natural foods store as his senior project.

When international business major Karr met food science major Pryor he also met mate.

“We were friends before anything, we started hanging out and surfing, Alex introduced it to me,” Karr remembered. “I had a life changing experience with mate.

I grew up with allergies, and they told me I was allergic to everything green. And every time I drank mate with Alex I noticed that my allergies were extremely relieved. I met this guy who passed me this really strong gourd and we became

friends.”

Karr had started up a computer business in town when Pryor asked if he wanted to work with him.

“The most important thing is he is a close friend and understood the values of not only mate, but starting a market driven business.”

Alex wasn’t reluctant about leaving the computer business.

“I was more passionate about mate at that point then I was computers. So I spoke to my partners, got out of that, and went into business with Alex,” Karr said. “I was open and ready at the time and threw myself into it with reckless abandon.”

“We launched it, just the two of us, and now we have seven major partners that are actively involved,” Pryor said.

All of Guayaki’s products are yerba mate-based and come from South America.

“Everyone tries to claim mate in South America,” Karr said Guayaki gets their yerba mate from the Atlantic forest which has been singled out by Conservation International as one of the top sites as priority conservations because there is very little of it left.

“The 7 percent the remains is one of that most bio diverse forests because of its large populations of animals and birds,” Karr said.

Those who drink Guayaki are helping to save this forest.

“One of the things that Alex and I were really passionate about is we didn’t want to just create a business, make money, and give back a percentage of our profits.

We wanted to do was create a new business model, and then that model would drive restoration and social development programs,” Karr said. “We build in the cost of fair

Monday, June 1, 2009 www.mustangdaily.net

trade, organic, restoration programs into the price of the product, so all they have to do is buy it and those who trust us automatically know that they are driving these things.”

Those who buy Guayaki don’t have to be an environmental enthusiast or conscientious person to enjoy their mate. But by drinking Guayaki they will be helping the Atlantic forest whether they like it or not.

“You don’t have to have any social or restorative goals,” Karr said. “But that will be happening anyway.”

“We are living in a both a climate and economic crisis.”

Pryor said that we need to find a balance with our natural resources and he thinks that Guayaki does just that.

“With the Guayaki business model we are trying to strike a balance. The consumer is participating in the change through the consumption,” he said. “I think one of the problems in society is the high consumption of products that are depleting the natural resources, we need to start consuming products that restore the natural resources while at the same time are empowering communities and education.”

Yerba mate is primarily used as a health stimulant. It has the same amount of caffeine as coffee if you brew it strong, and is becoming quite the buzz beverage with growing popularity in the United States.

Karr described mate as a healthy nourishing alternative source of caffeine.

“It’s gentle,” Karr said. “It’s like wheat grass with caffeine; all the nutrients buffer the effects of caffeine.”

Guayaki mainly uses two varieties of air dried mate, Traditional and San Mateo.

“Basically two varieties that are packaged on the market tradition-

al and San Mateo, San Mateo is what we use to make all of the other products.

Guayaki was much more than a business opportunity for Karr. He was enchanted by the rich culture history of mate, the hospitality it represents and his own positive personal experience with the product.

“It was the romance of mates’ history and tradition and my personal experience with the product,” he said. “Mate has a connection to the land and people that is similar to the process of making wine. I realized that it could be a grown in harmony with nature and the importance of its ties to the cultural heritage of the people that lived in those areas, much like wine is.”

“It’s true yerba mate has a very strong symbolism, it represents our culture and hospitality,” Pryor said.

“The moment someone invites you to their home they will offer you mate.”

Pryor gave an example of how a tea can represent these things. He recently went to renew his passport in a government building in which no one was particularly excited to be working or in line in. He noticed that all of the public employees had no personal items in sight except for the thermos and gourds that mate is drank out of.

“I was impressed because everyone had their thermos or gourd with them, I had brought mine too because I was going to be waiting in line.”

Pryor said that when the employees realized that he too was drinking mate, the mood changed and dialogue began.

“The conversation changed ‘oh you are drinking mate how do you like it?’ It’s incredible how it is involved in our culture and everyday life,” he said.

You don’t have to have a trasee Guayaki, page 11

Monday, June 1, 2009

Mustang Daily

Arts & eNtertAiNMeNt beer column Guayaki

Going into withdrawals with Delirium Tremens People often ask me, “Scott, you’re a beer critic. So what’s your favorite beer?”

OK, so only two people have asked me that since I started writing the column.

But since this is the last week of classes and hence my last column, I figured I might as well answer that burning question that is undoubtedly on the minds of my readers.

I first came across Delirium Tremens about three years ago when my cousin, who is also big on exotic beers, was given a couple bottles of Tremens and its sister brew, Delirium Nocturnum, as a Christmas gift from his roommate.

Delirium is produced by the Huyghe Brewery in Melle, Belgium.

This is really where my love of Belgian beers began.

Tremens had recently been named ‘Best beer in the world’ at the World Beer Championships and in Stuart Kallen’s book, “The 50 Greatest Beers in the World” as well.

Needless to say, I was excited.

But as I had my first sip I thought, “Wait a minute, that’s it?”

It was tasty, but I wasn’t sure I could consider it the best in the world. I only had a couple sips before my cousin greedily took back his pint glass (and rightfully so).

It wouldn’t be until about a year later that I would try it again. I was getting a sandwich at Sandy’s — some of you may remember their tasty deli before they turned into just a liquor store — when I decided to browse the beer selection.

Low and behold, there sat a 750mL bottle of Delirium Tremens. I decided I’d give it another shot. I picked up the Tremens and a bottle of Köstritzer Schwarzbier.

I’ve been a fan of the Köstritzer for awhile and I figured if I didn’t enjoy the Tremens again at least I’d have something I did like.

This time, with a full bottle at my disposal, it didn’t disappoint.

The term Delirium Tremens is actually defined as an acute episode of alcohol withdrawal. And after I drank that first full bottle I was kicking myself for buying that stupid Köstritzer instead of another Tremens.

It hooked me, just like that.

The funny thing is, it’s very hard

Brewed at: Huyghe Brewery Melle, Belgium Alcohol Content: 8.5 percent Awards: “Best Beer in the World” 1998 World Beer Championships Stuart Kallen, No. 1 in “The Greatest 50 Beers in the World”

for me to explain what I feel the beer tastes like. It has such a complex flavor. It’s fruity, spicy, mellow and strong all at the same time. The beer smells absolutely amazing. The nose is fairly fruity. You can almost taste the apples and oranges.

But the taste combines so many flavors into one extreme burst of awesomeness. Each sip can provide such a different experience.The best thing about this beer in my opinion is that it can be enjoyed under any circumstance. It could be a hot summer afternoon or a chilly winter’s night and still Tremens would be the perfect compliment to the situation.

As good as it is out of the bottle, I recently had my first pint on tap at the Yard House in Pasadena and it was even tastier.

I know this is the end of the line for a lot of you seniors. This is the last weekend for you to go out and get drunk before you join the real world.

Don’t settle for the “Natty” or Bud Light coming from the keg.

It’s a very strong beer, 8.5 percent, so it’s the perfect beer to relax with at home before you hit that boring house party or those stale bars. Treat yourself to a Tremens if you get a chance, you won’t regret it.

Scott Silvey is a journalism senior and the Mustang Daily sports editor and beer critic.

www.mustangdaily.net

continued from page 10

ditional gourd to enjoy Guayaki’s loose-leaf mate, the tea can be brewed in a French press or coffee maker. If loose-leaf is not your style, Guayaki also has mate tea bags in seven flavors.

Currently Guayaki can be found in both the United States and Canada. The company may have started in San Luis Obispo but has since moved north.

In addition to being located in the midst of one of their best markets, Guayaki has opened their first mate bar in Sebastopol.

“It’s really nice you can walk in and have a mate late,” Pryor said.

The small town of Sebastopol is environmental management and production senior Megan Paladini’s hometown, and while she isn’t a big tea drinker she has noticed Guayaki’s presence in when she visits home.

“It is right on the main street and looks so inviting,” she said.

“It is located in a somewhat industrial building, but they have made the building look just like their label.”

Nutrition senior Lindsey Mitchell agrees that the label is appealing.

“The box just looks like it has a good vibe,” she said.

Mitchell has traveled in South America and even though she is a coffee girl by nature she still enjoys mate.

“My experiences with mate are really fun,” she said. “Just hanging out on the porch with a group passing around a gourd,

11

socializing.”

This tea may come from abroad but it can be found at several stores locally.

Shannon Koester, general manager at Gus’s Grocery in San Luis Obispo,the shop said carries four of the seven flavors offered of Guayaki’s bottled mate.

“We try to cater to the student population and see what they are going to drink,” she said. “It sells really well, we go through two to three cases a week.”

Koester is glad that Guayaki is selling well because of the local connection.

“I realize that it isn’t a local company anymore, but the fact that the founders graduated from here (Cal Poly),” she said. “I like the fact that it is organic and a lot of the flavored beverages out there aren’t.”

Guayaki can also be found on campus business sophomore Kunuk Shin tried the mate variety for the first time at Julian’s in the library.

“I ordered it because it was something cold and they didn’t have Italian sodas so it was it was either mango or mate and I don’t really like mango,” he said. “The taste wasn’t very strong, I liked that it was mild.”

Pryor and Karr may no longer reside in sleepy San Luis Obispo but their company is legacy in the town.

Pryor, now back in Argentina, still visits.

“I came to California because of the cultural background, its ethics and environmental awareness,” he said. “I miss the people, I loved the people and really became a part of the community.”

And thanks to Guayaki tea, he still is.

8

Monday, June 1, 2009

Arts and Entertainment Editor: Emilie Egger Arts and Entertainment Designer: Milena Krayzbukh

New Web site gives authors a place to publish Jennifer Titcomb MUSTANG DAILY

For those creative writers who have been discouraged to share their words with the world because of the small chance of becoming published, pick up your pens, there is a new solution.

Jordisbooks.com is a Web site that helps aspiring writers’ stories

and poetry available to the public. Arroyo Grande resident Suzanne Morby created the site two months ago.

“A friend of mine, who is an author, said how much of a challenge it is to get into the publishing world,” Morby said. “That’s when we came up with the idea; (it is) a place for the authors to take control of their own destiny

and I wanted to create a Web site that was really an asset to the authors.”

Welcome entries include fiction, non fiction, poetry and short stories. Authors can post to the Web site free of charge and visitors can preview the works for free or download for a fee.

Author of “A Story Almost Told,” Rick Karlsruher said Jordis

Books helps writers get noticed and he said it is more beneficial than sites that charge a fee for publishing work on “A friend of mine, who is an author, their Web sites. said how much of a challenge it is to “For being on get into the publishing world. That’s a site that doesn’t when we came up with the idea; (it is) a place for the authors to take make you pay and control of their own destiny and I pays you it gives you wanted to create a Web site that a little more credwas really an asset to the authors.” ibility,” he said.

Suzanne Morby Morby explained creator that Jordis Books’ main focus is to cresubmit ate an avenue to feature writer’s work works. but is also a great “We have people that are writway for the general public to have access to stories that most likely ing about their experiences in South Africa and people who have would not have been available.

Most downloads range from traveled all over the world and $5 to $10. The price is set by the sharing stories about their advenauthors who receive 55 percent of tures. Some are really unique and the profit for each download with interesting material that maybe the remaining 45 percent going to you wouldn’t find that isn’t getting published but you should still funds for site maintenance.

Two Cal Poly students are help- read it because it’s interesting, it’s ing with the marketing of the Web creative, it’s a new perspective,” he site for their business senior proj- said.

Since the site is new it’s too ect class.

“I’ve created a marketing sales soon to gauge how successful the strategy for the company and then site is in making authors more visI’ve designed the marketing cam- ible to publishers.

“The concept is that (Morby) paign to actually go in and actually implement everything,” said will consider it a success when business administration senior Ian we leave her. In other words the idea is to get us out there and get Toner.

His plan has included look- people to see us and then get a real ing for talent among his Cal Poly contract,” Karlsruher said.

Because these are e-books there peers; visiting different campus is no wasting paper. “I think one writing clubs and majors. He’s alof the side perks of this particuready contacted the English, comlar Web site is we’re not going to munication studies and journalism be selling books itself,” Morby departments but said all majors are said.

“We’re out getting our site encouraged to participate. to where it is more on the green Toner said there is a wide range side.” of topics discussed in the different

mustang daily The voice of Cal Poly since 1916 Graphic Arts Building, Suite 226 California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 (805) 756-1796 editorial (805) 756-1143 advertising (805) 756-6784 fax mustangdaily@gmail.com e-mail

editors & staff editor in chief Marlize van Romburgh managing editor Giana Magnoli news editor Rachel Glas news designer Omar Sanchez wire editor Cassie Carlson sports editor Scott Silvey sports designer Kate Nickerson online editor Lauren Rabaino arts editor Emilie Egger arts designer Milena Krayzbukh copy editors Alex Kacik, Jennifer Titcomb, Breehan Yohe-Mellor, Megan Hassler,Tim Miller head photographer Kristen Hays photographers Nick Camacho, Patrick Fina, Megan Keating, Matt Fountain layout manager Andrew SantosJohnson advertising coordinator Jessica Lutey business managers Sarah Carbonel, Ian Toner, Brittany Kelley advertising managers Gaby Horta, Ashley Singer, Charlotte Lilley ad designers Daryl Daley, Justin Rodriguez, Andrew Santos-Johnson, Mai-Chi Vu, Jason Cope, John Dixon, Sara Hamling advertising representatives Megan Dilley, Jessica Schroeder, Kacy Shin, Jenny Staskus, Colin Princi, Brittni Kiick, Kristin Coplan, Adam Plachta, Erika Powers, Drew Toney faculty adviser Teresa Allen general manager Paul Bittick

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June 1, 2009 Volume LXXII, No. 156 ©2009 Mustang Daily “You’d have to be an asshole to save the world.”

opinion/editorial mustang daily

Monday, June 1, 2009

Editor in chief: Marlize van Romburgh Managing Editor: Giana Magnoli

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12

Credit card reform bill letters to the editor makes college living harder A poem for the Proposition 8 debate

I always find it amazing that the college student stereotype can be so vastly different depending on the circumstances. On one hand, we’re the ‘future’ — talented young engineers, scientists and business people leading the way into tomorrow. On the other, we’re ignorant and irresponsible youngsters — not yet ‘real adults’ — who need constant special protections from the realities of the real world.The most recent and one of the more condescending examples of this kind of paternalism is the credit card reform bill; a piece of legislation with arguably noble intentions but a whole host of unintended consequences.

When the credit card reform bill was passed on May 19, it received praises all around for protecting consumers from what its proponents see as arbitrary rate hikes, misleading terms and unnecessary punishment for late payments and exceeding credit limits. Some even went so far as to call the legislation a “credit card holder’s bill of rights.”

First, let’s get one thing straight: There’s no such thing as a “right” to credit. It’s actually a privilege and you have to pay a pretty hefty interest rate for it. More importantly, this bill, even with all its noble intentions, will likely result in less access to credit, particularly for those who need it most — and that includes college students.

One portion of the legislation bans credit card companies from issuing cards to consumers under the age of 21 unless a parent or other guardian co-signs the application.

Full-time college students between the ages of 18 and 21 who do not have co-signers will not be allowed to have more than $500 or 20 percent of their gross income in credit.The act also limits pre-approved credit offers to young consumers and prevents credit card companies from raising a customer’s credit limit without getting written approval from that consumer.

All of this is done in a supposed effort to protect us poor, naïve students from being exploited by the big, powerful credit card companies preying down on us — but honestly, this bill stinks of exactly the kind of paternalism I think most of us have outgrown by the time we’re in college.

A study by Sallie Mae, the government student loan agency, found that 84 percent of undergrads have at least one credit card, and that more than half of students have more than four credit cards. Most students with credit cards hold an average balance of $3,173.

“Just because credit-card companies are taking a hit ... doesn’t mean that they should be allowed to give thousands of dollars to young people with no way of paying it back,” said Carmen Berkley, president of the United States Student Association in a Christian Science Monitor article.

It’s quite an assumption on her part that most of us have no way of paying back our debts and even more so that a lender would knowingly extend credit to someone who will default on a loan.

Signing up for a credit card is no different than any other deal between two parties: One party provides something (in this case, a small, easy-to-use plastic card with a limited amount of pre-approved credit) and the other party pays something for that great service (in this case, a sizeable amount of interest for the convenience of such a card).

Advocates like Berkley assume that 20-somethings like ourselves aren’t old enough or responsible enough to use credit wisely, and that’s why we need special government protection to prevent us from making bad decisions.

The truth is, many college students use credit cards because they have to. For everything from quarterly textbooks to financial emergencies, credit cards can be a savior when you simply don’t have enough money to make ends meet.

My car’s “check engine” light came on one day last year, and 24 hours later I was walking out of the repair

shop with a $1,000 bill. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a few thousand dollars just lying around in my piggy bank, so I swiped the plastic and drove off in my newly-fixed car. I’m not sure how I would have paid for it without my Discover Card, short of running to my parents for help.

My guess is that a lot of college students use their credit cards similarly — not as an excuse to live above their means, but as a source of financing during a time when we’re not making much money and already spending a lot on tuition, books, food and rent.

College is all about what economists call opportunity costs. We come here, delaying the immediate benefits of a job and paying thousands of dollars for an education, so that we can eventually have a financially and intellectually rewarding career. For these four-plus years until we graduate, however, we’re generally cheap, broke and living on ramen noodles and beer — or so the stereotype goes anyway.

“The purpose of any form of credit is to borrow against your future earnings in order to enjoy some consumption today,” said Mark Calabria, director of financial regulations for the Cato Institute, in the Christian Science Monitor article.“Whether that consumption is in the form of textbooks or beer and pizza should be left up to the individual — we are talking about adults here — and not the state.”

The point is this: Credit card debt isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Some people use it to build their credit history, others make the decision to accumulate short-term debt now knowing they can pay it off in the near future, and still others rely on credit cards during fiscal emergencies.

Like most government interference in what would otherwise be a simple deal between two parties, the credit card reform act lacks serious common sense. It limits consumer choices by restricting their access to credit, and it punishes credit card companies for simply doing what they do. It’s not just the 21-and-under provision either, but the effects of the entire bill on the credit market that make it such a poor piece of legislation.

Sure, there are plenty of horror stories about cases where credit card companies have broken their end of the deal, but as Todd Zywicki, consumer credit expert and a professor at George Mason Law, explained in testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, blanket legislation isn’t the answer.“There are ample tools for courts and regulators to attack deceptive and fraudulent practices on a caseby-case basis,” he said.

Zywicki’s research is actually really interesting, and I encourage you to read more of it. One of the main conclusions he makes is that, contrary to popular belief, the credit card market is actually highly competitive; most consumers are aware of their interest rates and do shop around for better offers. And like any competitive market, it means that those credit card companies which routinely treat their customers unfairly will eventually see business decline as consumers simply go to other companies.

Really, the credit card reform bill is just one more example of the many overbearing business regulations taking hold nowadays. Like most forms of regulation, it stifles consumer choices, drives up the service provider’s costs (which are then passed on to consumers) and punishes businesses for attempting to make a legitimate profit. Thanks to this bill, we can now expect higher rates all around as credit card companies attempt to compensate for the extra risk they’re forced to take on.

We don’t need to be ‘protected’ from our own choices; we need to take responsibility for our own actions. If now isn’t the time to learn what happens when you make a late payment on a credit card, when is?

Marlize van Romburgh is a journalism senior with an economics minor and the Mustang Daily editor in chief.

I was tired of hearing all the people complaining of how they can’t believe the Supreme Court upheld the ideals of a democracy, where a majority vote decides the people’s fate. So, I made a little poem for them: We’re tolerant! We’re tolerant!

We accept every view So come around you people, For we love all of you We’re tolerant! You’re intolerant?!

Is it really true?

Please change your way of thinking Or we can’t tolerate you…

We’re intolerant! Intolerant!

It is what we do.

We say we tolerate everyone Unless that someone’s you.

Thanks for accepting everyone’s views except for the ones that disagree with yours.

Nick Hageman electrical engineering senior

Associated Press article photograph ill chosen

The Mustang Daily should have exercised more care when choosing a photo to attend the article on OnCampus Concealed Carry issues.

The photo is of hunting and sporting rifles, but no-one is interested in carrying long arms into schools.

Instead, the issue is whether or not individuals who have been granted concealed-carry handgun licenses by their states should have their rights suspended when they step onto campus.

Obtaining a concealed-carry license is often an arduous process.

The people who obtain these licenses are those interested in following the law. A person willing to commit murder has no respect for any law, so banning concealed-carry from campus only provides bad-guys with defenseless victims. Gun shows have far less violence than schools.

Florida has a shall-issue concealed-carry policy, and many people choose to use it. Florida’s crime is certainly no worse than any other State’s, because law-abiding people are not the problem.

Eric Baldwin electrical engineering senior

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Soccer continued from page 16

Both teams played as though they had something to prove, Cal Poly sophomore goalkeeper Patrick McLain said. The Club America reserves were playing for a starting bid and Cal Poly was playing for respect.

The loose, talented Club America showcased a style of play rarely seen on the Mustangs home pitch by effortlessly connecting nearly every pass. Crosses that hit players in stride and well-placed through balls demonstrated Club America’s poise and control.

“Their style of play was very technical,” said junior midfielder Jose Garcia, who re-aggravated a strained hamstring after being pushed in the back midway through the first half.

“You don’t see college players connect as many passes, that’s what hurt us. They connected so many passes that we were just shifting; they didn’t lose the ball.”

A fluid, well-spaced defense swarmed the Mustangs, putting them on their heels at the onset of the match until a change of strategy opened up the field.

“The first 20 minutes we had to find our footing, we didn’t play particularly well,” Holocher said. “We switched formations, which helped us gain possession and create some chances.”

The Mustangs changed from a 4-4-2 formation to a 4-3-3, which offset Club America’s midfield pressure and allowed Cal Poly to build from the backfield with better spacing, Cal Poly freshman forward Wes Feigner said. “(The tactical change) gave our holding midfielder Brian Jones more space and time on the ball because that way he wasn’t always surrounded by four or five people,” Feigner added. “That way he could combine with other midfielders and keep possession better. Once we hit our rhythm we could play with anybody.”

Both teams had a fairly even

amount of opportunities to score.

The Mustangs adjusted to pressure defense by getting rid of the ball sooner and exposing their opponents aggressive play. Cal Poly’s best chance came about half way through the first half when a Daniel Cumming header froze the goalie as it skimmed over the crossbar.

“You definitely got to give credit to the defense (which) collapsed on the ball a lot,” Feigner said. “But partially I think we were just one or two inches out. Dan hit the post; it was little things like that that could’ve gone either way.”

In the 72nd minute, McLain batted away a cross from the left wing, but was unable to corral the rebound. A Club America player shot on an open net from inside the box but directed it wide right. The miss produced a blast from about 10 feet out, which was blocked by 2008 freshman All-American defenseman Patrick Sigler.

Cal Poly had one last chance near the end of regulation when forward David Zamora slipped a pass to Jeff Meyer Jr., only to be cut down by two defenders in the box.

The physical match produced two yellow cards and 13 fouls, nine

by Cal Poly. When Club America jostled for position, the Mustangs weren’t afraid to push back. Several hard challenges warranted a hum from the crowd of about 2,500, most of which were sporting Club America yellow. The game was anything but a friendly.

“Sometimes soccer games are like boxing matches, a guy can pin you in the corner and start punching and you just have to defend, bear down and hopefully change the momentum,” Holocher said.

McLain recorded six saves and his team tallied 10 shots, to Club America’s 15. By the end of the toe-totoe competition, young aficionados waited for not only Club America’s autographs, but Cal Poly’s as well.

“It was a great chance to speed up our experience level,” Holocher explained. “There’s not another college team in the country that’s getting this type of game.”

Lakers

sports Baseball

moved into the loser’s bracket to take on Kent State who fell to regional-host Arizona State. continued from page 16 Cal Poly fell quickly behind, trailing the Golden Flashes 4-1 afFirst baseman Michael Nota- ter three innings. There seemed to ro was 4-for-4 for Oral Roberts be little hope left as the Mustangs while shortstop Juan Martinez, fell behind 10-3 heading into the catcher Seth Furmanek and third ninth inning. baseman Danny Duffy all added “We put up a lot of big numbers three hits. Second baseman Colby all season long,” Ryan Lee said in Price hit a two-run home run in a statement. “We had our opporthe third and a three-run double tunities early to cash in, but twice in the eighth inning to help se- we hit into double plays with the cure the win. bases loaded. We battled just like With the loss, the Mustangs we have all year, but it’s a different

associated press

15

animal in the playoffs.”

The Mustangs fell just short of the miracle comeback. Eight of the first nine Cal Poly players reached safely to start the inning.

Eventually able to cut the lead to 10-9, sophomore outfielder DJ Gentile struck out looking to end the game.

“Even though it didn’t go the way we wanted, it’s still a big step for our program,” junior righthander DJ Mauldin said in the statement. “The ninth-inning rally is a reflection of how hard we fought all year long.”

Ramirez continued from page 16

team on the field makes a lot more sense than the guy who runs the cash register.

Torre is one of the more thoughtful people in baseball, and he’s not afraid to say what he thinks. In this case, he thinks Ramirez shouldn’t be on the All-Star team — and believes Ramirez would say the same thing, if only because he hasn’t played enough games this year.

Manny being Manny, though, he’s not talking. Outside of a few words to his teammates in a Miami hotel a few weeks ago, Ramirez has said nothing and done nothing to convince anyone that he hit 533 home runs without the benefit of modern chemistry.

That seems to be OK with the tough guy, too. McCourt apparently is going to allow Ramirez to return July 3 in San Diego without having to explain what he did or why he did it. Like Mark McGwire, he wants to move forward and not talk about the past.

That might work for the Dodgers, who still must have a lot of fake dreadlocks to sell. And if Yankee fans can welcome Alex Rodriguez back as they have, Dodger fans will do the same for Ramirez — as long as he’s still able to hit home runs, that is.

But make a mockery of the All-

we had days of rest and then we messages making sure we’re on were a little sluggish at the begin- the same page,” Gasol said. “It just ning of a series,” Gasol said. “Now brings us together.” continued from page 16 there’s no slacking, no slipping or The Lakers’ immediate problem nothing. We’re ready to start and is how to contain Dwight Howard.

“There are a number of guys we’re ready to play.”

He averaged 21.5 points and 16 that physically could use the days Bryant admitted during the rebounds when the Magic swept off.”

Western Conference finals that them in two regular-season games.

They include Lamar Odom he’s not sleeping much. He’s been “I don’t think there have been (sore back), Trevor Ariza (sore hip sending text messages to Gasol many players like him because of and groin) and Luke Walton (an- in the wee hours and getting re- his physical gifts and attributes,” kle). sponses.

Gasol said. “You have to be really “We’ve been in situations where “We exchanged a couple of text focused on him, don’t let him get any deep catches and don’t let him get going or confident.”

Howard does most of the damage inside, while Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Mickael Pietrus and Rafer Alston are threats from

An Orlando Magic fan holds up a sign taunting the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers will hold the homecourt advantage during the Finals.

Sports designer: Kate Nickerson

associated press

Should Los Angeles Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez, who is fourth in allstar voting, play in the Midsummer Classic if he is voted in?

Star game by allowing a cheater just coming off suspension to play left field? Even if fans voted him on the team — he was fourth at last report — Bud Selig would have to step in and void the pick for the good of the game.

If all we do is forgive and forget without remembering the past, then Marion Jones should get her gold medals back and they should

rename the Cy Young Award after Roger Clemens. Then they could build a statue to Barry Bonds to put next to the one honoring Willie Mays in San Francisco.

Good thing the tough guy doesn’t own the Giants. He just might do it.

3-point range.

“It’s to your advantage not to double against this team,” Jackson said. “They’re going to threaten you with that (outside shooting), but really it’s their inside game that you have to be concerned about.”

Gasol believes the Lakers own an advantage that Cleveland lacked in losing the Eastern Conference finals to the Magic.

“They didn’t have that balance of an inside-outside game and we do have that and we will be a tougher matchup,” he said. “Let’s

see if we give them more of an outside shot or we let Dwight go to work a little more and see what he can do. He’s becoming a pretty good passer off the post and making smart decisions.”

With Orlando’s quartet throwing up 3-pointers from all corners of the court, Fisher figures rebounding could be a key difference in the finals.

“There’s going to be a lot of long rebounds from the 3-point shots, so for perimeter players especially, we’ll have to make sure we’re getting in there and grab-

Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press.

mustangdaily.net Monday, June 1, 2009

SPORTS

sports editor:

Scott Silvey mustangdailysports@gmail.com

MUSTANG DAILY

WEEKEND men’s soccer | club america 0 (4-2 Pk), cal poly 0

Club America edges Cal Poly in penalty kicks

baseball

TEMPE REGIONAL game 1: oral roberts 13, cal poly 3 game 2: kent state 10, cal poly 9

Mustangs swept out of first NCAA regional appearance first inning but Oral Roberts would respond with six runs Oral Roberts junior right- over the next three frames. hander Jerry Sullivan struck out Freshman right-hander Manine Cal Poly batters in seven son Radeke (6-2) allowed six innings while allowing three runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 inruns to help the Golden Eagles nings with two walks and five advance in the winner’s bracket strikeouts, suffering the loss for of the Tempe Regional.

Cal Poly.

Cal Poly scored the first run see Baseball, page 15 of the game in the top of the mustang daily staff report

courtesy photo

Club America players celebrate after their penalty kick victory over the Cal Poly men’s soccer team on Friday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Alex Kacik mustang daily

Supporters poured in from every angle of Alex G. Spanos Stadium nearly an hour before the match.

Horns echoed throughout the contest. Fans lined the fence to catch a closer glimpse of the unfamiliar opponent with pen and paper in hand, awaiting an autograph.The heralded Mexican soccer squad Club America, sporting yellow and black uniforms, stood next to Cal Poly, who donned its familiar Mustang green, as both countries’ national anthems ensued.

Not long after, the stands rattled in

anticipation — game on.

The exhibition match not only had a professional feel, but a professional performance. After a scoreless tie through regulation, Club America edged Cal Poly in penalty kicks, 4-2, Friday night.

“There was no way to lose on an evening like this,” Mustangs head coach Paul Holocher said. “(We gained valuable) experience — the horns, the fans; this was not like any old college game, this was a special atmosphere — a taste of an international game.” see Soccer, page 15

nick camacho mustang daily file photo

The Cal Poly baseball team, shown above, finished the year with a 3721 record and their first trip to the Division I baseball postseason.

Lakers carry home-court advantage into NBA finals Beth Harris associated press

LOS ANGELES — It’s going to be Orlando, not Boston, in the NBA finals. Even though the opponent is different, the Los Angeles Lakers are still consumed with redeeming themselves after last year’s abject failure.

Their humiliating 131-92 dismissal by the Celtics in Game 6 last year still stings.

“We know what it feels like to lose and we just want to come out there and amend that,” coach Phil Jackson said Sunday.

A year ago, Pau Gasol had never played in the NBA finals, so he was excited just to be there.

Not this time.

“The team right now is hungry and focused,” he said. “This year we have a mission. It’s like, ‘OK, we’re in the finals, now let’s go to work.’ It’s a big difference.”

Another difference is that the Lakers have home-court advantage this year. Games 1 and 2 are Thursday and next Sunday at Staples Center before the best-of-7 series moves to Orlando for up to three games.

“It’s nice to have home-court advantage, but it’s still not something to rely on in this kind of a series,” Jackson said. “Orlando is one of the better road teams in the league the last two years.”

No doubt Jackson will remind his team that both Houston and Denver won at Staples in the past two rounds, costing the Lakers home-court advantage.

“That’s something you don’t want to do in the finals with this kind of 2-3-2 setup,” he said. “It’s just about trying to get a leg up right off the bat so you have advantage.”

After taking Saturday off, the Lakers reconvened Sunday for a video session. Except for Gasol and Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant and the other starters departed without speaking to the media.

Having played 13 games in 26 days to reach the finals, the Lakers are taking advantage of the sixday break before making one last push at a 16th NBA championship.

“We got really banged up in these last two series,” Jackson see Lakers, page 15

associated press

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant celebrates during Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Mannywood should not be home to an All-Star Tim Dahlberg associated press

The Dodgers were deep into spring training, and owner Frank McCourt was playing tough guy. He had to because, even though no one else had any interest in signing Manny Ramirez, he had to show agent Scott Boras who was in charge.

So at a dawn meeting at his oceanfront home in Malibu, McCourt laid down the law. If Ramirez was going to be paid $43 million to be a Dodger, the owner said, he had to act like one.

That meant being a leader, and staying out of trouble. No more Manny simply being Manny.

Tough guy, that McCourt. Smart guy, too, because you don’t build Mannywood for someone who is going to let the team down.

Ramirez, of course, did let the Dodgers down, and in a big way. Just a month into the regular season he was suspended for 50 games after baseball investigators found evidence that he was doing things that people who are trying to hide steroid use do.

I was at Dodger Stadium that night, and was expecting McCourt to tell us how disappointed he was with Ramirez and how bad the whole thing was for baseball. But the tough guy owner was nowhere to be seen, preferring instead to let Joe Torre and general manager Ned Colletti face the army of media types who wanted to know why Ramirez was taking a female fertility drug and how it might have helped him hit home runs.

I think I’ve figured out why.

When McCourt opens his mouth, silly things tend to come out.

That’s what happened the other day in Chicago when McCourt told the Los Angeles Times that he would be happy to see Ramirez play for the National League in the All-Star game if fans were forgiving enough to vote the dreadlocked one onto the team.

Actually, happy would seem an understatement. The way McCourt was talking, he seemed ready to launch a campaign for his suspended outfielder.

“Do I want to see him?” McCourt asked. “Sure, if he gets voted in. It’d be a great honor.”

Yes it would. And, really, what better way to honor a cheater than by rewarding him for what he did?

You might think that someone who invested the better part of this year’s parking lot receipts at Dodger Stadium in someone who got suspended 50 games for cheating wouldn’t be in such a generous mood.Then again, McCourt is saving more than $7 million by not having to pay Ramirez during his enforced absence, and the Dodgers look like they will still be running away with the NL West when he comes back.

Thankfully, the guy who runs the see Ramirez, page 15