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SUMMER MUSTANG 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 “Time Traveler’s Wife” may be a waste of time.
Constituents protest as Obama pitches health care plan.
IN ARTS, 5
IN NEWS, 3
Terry Crawford leaves Cal Poly’s track and field program for the national team. IN SPORTS, 8
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Volume LXXIII, Number 8
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FALSE ALARM: Blue phones used by drunks and children $3-5k
Kate McIntyre mustang daily
cost to install one Code Blue phone
$6,000
cost of each Code Blue phone
$1,000
maintenance cost per year for all phones
1,550
911 calls to UPD in 2008
6,300
students living on campus next year
Cal Poly University Chief of Police Bill Watton cannot remember a time when a Code Blue emergency phone prevented an emergency on campus. However, the dispatchers at the University Police Department report that the 70-plus free-standing cylinders designed to increase campus safety are activated about three or four times per week, he said. “This would work out to between 150 and 200 blue light calls per year or about 10 to 12 percent of total 911 calls.” In 2008 UPD had 1,550 activations of 911, including calls from land phones, cell phones, blue lights and elevators, he said. Every CSU campus has some version of an emergency phone and many use the Code Blue phones like those at Cal Poly. San Jose State University Sergeant John Laws said he thinks the emergency phones make a psychological difference and help community members communicate to the police. “I think that people do feel safer knowing that they can call the UPD quickly and easily from nearly anywhere on campus,” he said. Laws added that he couldn’t recall whether one had been a life-saving factor in an emergency. “They are not necessarily noticed and I could not possibly quantify whether or not a blue light phone made a specific difference in any situation,” he said. The jurisdiction of the Cal Poly University Police Department includes the campus plus a one mile radius. “Wherever our students are, we’ll try to be there,” Watton said. Nearly every student carries a cell phone, which may be why the emergency phones aren’t relied upon. 911 calls from a cell phone are directed to one of several law enforcement agencies within the area, including the San
Deficit delays construction Tim Miller mustang daily
Cal Poly’s $33 million budget deficit has forced some of the planned construction projects on campus to be delayed. The building of a $124 million addition to the Science “Spider” Building and the plan to turn South Perimeter Road into a walking plaza in the fall will be the first to be delayed. There are also no plans for new academic buildings on campus. “The picture for capital projects is fairly bleak for the next year and a half,” Bob Kitamura, executive director of facility planning and capital projects, said. The addition to the Science Building has been delayed, but Philip Bailey, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics said he is hopeful that the funds will come for the Science Building. The state budget has passed, so lease revenue bonds should soon be approved for sale in order to pay for the building, he said. The building will provide more space for student research and classes. The improvement is part of a plan to increase enrollment in the polytechnic aspects of the university, Bailey added. South Perimeter Road will be closed permanently to regular vehicle traffic as planned starting in September but improvements will not be made to it, Kitamura said. The road will still be used to access the construction going on at the Recreation Center, the University Union Plaza and the Simpson Strong Tie Building, a new Materials Demonstration Laboratory for the College of Architecture and Environmental Design with a budget of just under $3 million. Construction was supposed to start on the
see Code Blue, page 2
see Construction, page 2
Wildfire in Los Padres National Forest blazes on Lauren Rabaino mustang daily
Ashes fill the air in San Luis Obispo as the largest fire currently in California continued to burn, scourging about 29,480 acres by Wednesday night, according to U.S. Forest Service officials. The La Brea fire — which was 10 percent contained Wednesday evening — is the first major fire to hit San Luis Obispo County this summer, burning 21 miles east of Santa Maria in the Los Padres National Forest. The blaze had its largest overnight growth Tuesday night, spreading approximately 6,000 acres. By Wednesday evening,
the fire had burned an additional 3,000 acres. “Because of 50-mph winds and humidity that stayed low to the ground, it caused to fire to be very active last night, which it typically hasn’t been,” Maeton Freel, information officer for the Los Padres National Forest, said Wednesday. To keep the blaze under control, 1,277 personnel were at the fire overnight Tuesday. Many firefighters camped near the fire to avoid travel burdens. Freel said that although they try to get local crews, many of them are from dispersed areas around the state. By Wednesday evening, the staffing had increased to 1,815 personnel, but weather conditions
were expected to improve, with only 20-mph winds. “This is burning in an area with fuels that haven’t burned in 80 years,” said Jennifer Greg, another information officer for the national forest. Greg said the fire was primarily fuel-driven, burning dry dense brush. The northeast portion of the land hasn’t burned since 1922, but the southwest portion burned as recently as May, when the Jesuita fire burned 8,733 acres. As of Wednesday evening, there were 39 engines, 49 fire crews, 19 bulldozers and 11 helicopters at the scene. The nearest properties are just a half-mile from the fire, Freel said.
Santa Barbara County issued an evacuation order Tuesday to 14 surrounding ranches and fire officials moved livestock as necessary. Despite light population, the San Luis Obispo County Air Quality Management District and the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and the Air Pollution Control District each issued a health advisory warning early in the week. County health officials urge residents to use common sense and stay indoors if they are exposed to smoke and ash from the fire. The ash is also corrosive, meaning people should avoid skin contact. At Cal Poly, located 75 miles from the heart of the fire, the
concern is lower than at locations closer to the fire. Dr. David Harris, head of Cal Poly’s medical services at the campus health center, said he has never noticed an increase in asthma or skin-related illness as a result of local fires during his tenure. Even when the fire burned hills above Cal Poly and it rained ash for two days, Harris said the university didn’t see an increase in patients. “It hasn’t been that irritative,” Harris said. “I suspect it has to do probably with the fact we haven’t had a real high concentration of smoke. The ash is just kind of falling, but the smoke is staying up higher.”
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News
Construction continued from page 1
Simpson Strong Tie Building building in July but was delayed due to a new law that requires greater access to the disabled. Construction is now expected to start in midSeptember, said Kitamura. The closure of South Perimeter Road is also part of the campus master plan to make Cal Poly more pedestrian friendly. The bus stop on South Perimeter will be moved to North Perimeter next to the library. While many construction projects on campus have been stopped, work on the Recreation Center and the University Union Plaza will continue as planned. Both projects use funds that cannot be reallocated to other projects. The gym renovation is being paid for by a student fee increase approved in a 2008 student referendum. The fee increase will not be added until construction is completed, which the Associates Students Incorporated (ASI) Web site projects to be in 2012. The referendum approved a $71 million bond to be taken out in order to pay for the costs. The funds for the University Union Plaza remodel are coming from the ASI union reserve fund that can only be used for facilities, said Carl Payne, chair of the University Union Advisory Board. He added that the union reserve fund created by referendum by Cal Poly students in the 1970s established a student fee to create and maintain a variety of construction projects. Construction on the University Union Plaza is “so far so good,”
Code Blue continued from page 1
Luis Police Department, California Highway Patrol and the Cal Poly University Police Department. The dispatch at the agency will then redirect the call to the appropriate agency, which Watton says takes “just a matter of seconds.” Officers will arrive at the potential emergency within 30 seconds to one minute, he said. The Code Blue phones typically cost $3-5,000 to install and
County officials fan flames of moth scare Daniel Triassi mustang daily
nick camacho mustang daily
Despite budget cuts, construction is underway on the University Union Plaza with a budget of $3.1 million that can’t be reallocated. Payne said.The $3.1 million project started in the summer quarter and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2010. ASI has been planning on redesigning the University Union since a 2004 survey in which students identified that renovation to the plaza was important to them. Despite the survey students failed to approve a fee increase that would pay for it, even after a $40,000 “Yes” campaign that ASI launched and was heavily criticized for. Payne said ASI learned a lot from the 2005 referendum, “We were trying to do too much at one time,” he said. Since the 2005 referendum, students have approved a fee increase for the gym and ASI has put enough aside enough money from the reserve to pay for the plaza. Biology senior Victoria Valencia
said she would not have spent the money on the Recreation Center or the University Union Plaza but would like to see more academic buildings on campus. Campus Dining Director Tom Welton, said people are still finding their way around the construction “like mice in a maze.” He added that he does expect a drop in sales starting in the fall but said the remodel should be good for Campus Dining in the long run. Progress on the both the University Union Plaza and the Recreation Center can be followed on the ASI Facilities Project Blog. ASI will also begin working on five new outdoor basketball courts this summer that will be put in next to the newly completed turf fields right off of Slack Street, said Michelle Broom of ASI.
the pedestal phone itself is about $6,000. Over the last eight years maintenance costs have been about $1,000 per year for all of the blue phones, according to Facilities Associate Director Doug Overman. While there is no data as to whether the phones have prevented an assault, they do reassure some students on campus when at night. Animal science junior Suzie Middlebrook said she felt uneasy being on campus at night when she first arrived at Cal Poly in fall 2007. “Right after I came on campus there were two rapes within a cou-
ple weeks,” she said. “I was always running from blue light to blue light.” Now she thinks the campus is safe but having more Code Blue phones installed would make her feel safer, she added. “There are definitely some stretches where you aren’t sure where the next blue light is,” she said. “You can’t just tell a wouldbe assailant, ‘Excuse me sir, can you hold on a minute while I find the nearest blue phone?’” Civil engineering junior Danh Duong doesn’t think the emergency phones make a big difference in campus safety. “I think they’re good but I don’t feel like they’d be very effective…by the time they (the police) get there something could’ve happened.” But the bright lights could be help to someone in trouble, he said. “It definitely gets people’s attention, which could be all you need.” Watton said the activations mostly come not from uneasy or panicked students but from children and visitors who are curious how the phones work. They are also activated by intoxicated partygoers, he added. “Typically we just let give them a stern admonishment.” But if a call is malicious, the officers will treat it like any other misreported emergency call. The penalty for abuse of 911 is up to a $1,000 fine and/or up to six months in county jail, and all reasonable costs of any emergency response, he said.
A quarantine is pending in San Luis Obispo County after three adult light brown apple moths (LBAM) were found in Los Osos on July 31. This is following similar quarantines in Los Angeles County, Ventura County and the Bay Area (approximately 3,473 squares miles or about 2 percent of California) the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) said. Native to Australia, the caterpillar stage of the moth can destroy, stunt or deform young seedlings, spoil the appearance of ornamental plants and injure citrus, grapes and deciduous fruit crops such as apples, cherries and pears according to the San Luis Obispo County Department of Agriculture. “The light brown apple moth has been present for three years in California,” Bob Lilley, Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer for San Luis Obispo County said. The first LBAM was detected in Berkeley in 2006 and was positively confirmed by the United States Department of Agriculture on March 22, 2007, according to the USDA Web site. The quarantine presents a major obstacle for Central Coast farmers who sell their products to areas outside of the quarantine limits, said David Headrick, member of the Environmental Advisory Task Force.
What is a quarantine? Quarantine regulations instituted by the CDFA are aimed at preventing the spread of LBAM to other areas of California and to other states. It could take up to one year for a quarantine to be lifted, the county said. State and federal quarantine regulations prohibit the movement of all vegetation within or from the quarantined area unless it is certified as free from the pest by an agriculture official, is purchased at a retail outlet, or was produced outside the area and is passing through in accordance with accepted safeguards, the CDFA said. Within a quarantined area, regulations require that all known host plant material must meet phytosanitary protocols, Headrick said. “Loosely translated that means all plant material must be sprayed with pesticides to kill off any light brown apple moths that might be present,” he said.
Exterminating the Light Brown Apple Moth Quarantines are the first step to controlling LBAM for the CDFA. The ultimate goal is eradication. The CDFA has reviewed a range of strategies to terminate the moth, including: spraying ground-based
pesticide, releasing sterile moths and tying twist ties coated with pheromones designed to disrupt mating on trees and fences in urban areas. The CDFA also evaluated aerial pheromone spraying outside residential areas but was met with considerable public resistance. People don’t want to be inhaling sprays. The USDA and CDFA recently lifted quarantines for LBAM in Santa Barbara County after success using the pheromone infused twist tie method. Currently, there are no eradication treatments planned in San Luis Obispo County. While some think extermination is needed, others believe that the CDFA has exaggerated the threat of LBAM to get money for its budget. Stephen Scholl-Buckwald, Managing Director of Pesticide Action Network North America, contends the moth doesn’t pose a significant threat to California’s agriculture industry and can be managed without a massive eradication effort. “This is a pest that is going to have to be managed, it’s not going to be possible to eradicate but it can be managed quite well,” said Scholl-Buckwald. “They have been managing it in Australia and New Zealand for well over a century and Hawaii for 100 years.” Critics contend that quarantine and eradication measures pose environmental and health hazards and will take an economic toll on some growers. “Not enough is known in California, if one starts with the notion that this is a pest to be managed and not eradicated they are already down a path that makes a lot of sense,” Scholl-Buckwald said. The Pesticide Action Network also argues the controversial bug should be taken off the high-threat target list of farm pests. “It should be reclassified so they don’t have to use extreme measures,” Scholl-Buckwald said.
Local Impact Locally, the real economic issue is the impact that quarantines have on growers’ ability to sell their products, Headrick said. The College of Agriculture at Cal Poly is the fourth largest undergraduate agriculture program in the nation. Within the college, the horticulture and crop science department teaches numerous pest management classes. Dr. Michael Costello says invasive pests have always been a part of his curriculum. Costello doesn’t think LBAM will have much of an economic impact on local farmers. “It’s not going to change things that much; a big percentage of grape growers have to pay for other closely related moths already,” Costello said. Invasive pests are a chronic problem in agriculture. “We always have to worry about something,” he said.
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Obama health care plan raises concerns across the nation
associated press
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, answers a question from Sheryl Prather during a town meeting on health care reform Wednesday in Adel, Iowa. PANORA, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican who is a key bargainer on health care reform, played to packed crowds across the state who left little doubt that they are not happy with what's on the table. The questions were tough but respectful, and there was little of the shouting that has dominated similar meetings in other parts of the country. "It seems to me that people are expressing, not just on health care, but people are just very scared about the direction the country is taking," said Grassley, who emphasized that he hasn't signed off on anything. Grassley is the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and he's been deep in bargaining seeking a compromise health care plan that could get some Republican votes. He made it clear there are portions of the current measure he can't swallow. The boisterous forums held by many federal lawmakers have emphasized the challenge for President Barack Obama's administration as it tries to win over skeptical voters to an expensive plan to overhaul the nation's health care system. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill were among those who hosted raucous town halls on Tuesday. Speaking Wednesday in Harrisburg, Pa., Specter said that the protesters are "not necessarily representative of America" but should be heard. "There's more anger out there now than I have ever seen before," the Democrat said. "And I think the anger is caused by so many people having lost their jobs and (being) worried about losing their health insurance." In North Dakota, a raucous crowd packed a fire hall in Casselton on Wednesday to talk to Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan, with few signs of support for the reform plans. One woman was booed when she said an overhaul is necessary. Other meetings were less combative. In Kansas, Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins faced a friendly crowd of more than 200 people, drawing applause as she listed flaws she sees in the legislation before Congress. Several audience members at Topeka's Holiday Inn Holidome said they believe Jenkins is listening to them — when the Democrats controlling Congress are not. "I think that's where the yelling
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Thursday, August 13, 2009
comes in," said Jerry Aller, a 55-yearold farmer and postal worker who drove 70 miles from his hometown of Hiawatha. In Iowa, nearly 500 people jammed a sweltering community center meeting room to see Grassley, with virtually all describing health reform as a government takeover of the nation's health care system that's a prescription for disaster. Charlotte Fett manages a local clinic, and she said doctors are already forced to fight their way through a blizzard of bureaucracy. "I'm concerned about the layers of regulation that health care has now," she said. "This will make it worse I think and I've been in health care for 40 years." "I don't want the government or a bureaucrat working for the government to come between you and your doctor," said Grassley. "I think the stakes are very, very high." Grassley has opposed Obama's call for creation of a public option that the president says would drive up competition and force private insurers too reduce their rates. Grassley says only people in the country legally should be covered by a government-funded health care program, and opposes any plan that "determines when you're going to pull the plug on grandma." None of the bills in Congress would provide health insurance to illegal immigrants, but it didn't keep people from expressing concern about it. Obama has declared that the provision causing the uproar over endof-life care only authorizes Medicare to pay doctors for counseling about end-of-life care. He says it would not "basically pull the plug on grandma because we decided that it's too expensive to let her live anymore." National Republicans have seen an opportunity in the health care debate to target vulnerable Democrats. The National Republican Campaign Committee plans to run television and radio advertisements throughout August targeting at least seven members of Congress in competitive races. The first advertisement, targeting Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Wis., will run this week in the Green Bay,Wis., television market.The ad seeks to tie Kagen to health care legislation. GOP officials would not say how much they were spending on the advertisements or how often they would air.
News
Briefs State
National
International
LOS ANGELES (AP) —Federal and local agents are raiding at least two marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles but authorities won’t say what they’re seeking. Officials say more than 20 people from various agencies served a state search warrant at around 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Organica Collective in Marina del Rey. Los Angeles police, the FBI and DEA were still searching the distribution center three hours later. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office says a residence also was named in the warrant. ••• OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — California’s corrections chief says it will cost taxpayers $5 million to $6 million to make repairs and clean up from last weekend’s prison riot. Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said Wednesday it will cost more if the state rebuilds a dormitory destroyed at the California Institution for Men in Chino. Cate said the state does not expect significant costs from transferring 1,155 inmates to other facilities after the riot Saturday. Cate says employees from the damaged prison are being sent to oversee those inmates at the other facilities. A second dormitory was also damaged by fire and much of the furnishings destroyed in the melee that injured 175 inmates.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A seldom-employed psychopath was sentenced to 120 years in prison Wednesday for making a huge cache of child pornography that shows him sexually assaulting a dozen children, including infants at a girlfriend’s inhome day care. The FBI found John Jackey Worman with more than 1 million images of child pornography when they arrested him in suburban Philadelphia in 2007.A teenager who had been abused for several years tipped off authorities. The sentencing judge described Worman, 42, of Colwyn as a psychopath who sponged off women and sadistically coerced his young victims. ••• NEW YORK (AP) — The remains of five Italian tourists killed in the air collision over the Hudson River were taken to Kennedy Airport to be sent home Wednesday as divers recovered 30 pieces of the helicopter in which they had plunged to their deaths. Family members and friends held a private Roman Catholic prayer service for the victims. The remains were being flown to Milan on Wednesday on Alitalia Airlines, according to Italian Deputy Consul Maurizio Antonini in New York. The flight is to arrive at Milan’s Malpensa airport on Thursday morning.
DAHANEH, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Marines battled Taliban fighters Wednesday for control of a strategic southern town in a new operation to cut militant supply lines and allow Afghan residents to vote in next week’s presidential election. Insurgents appeared to dig in for a fight, firing volleys of rocketpropelled grenades, mortar rounds and even missiles from the back of a truck at the Marines, who were surprised at the intense resistance. By sunset, Marines had made little progress into Dahaneh beyond the gains of the initial pre-dawn assault. Fighting accelerated after sundown, and officers predicted a couple of days of intense combat before the town could be secured. ••• TBILSI, Georgia (AP) — Government forces bombed Shiite rebels in northern Yemen Wednesday, escalating a conflict along the Saudi border that could further destabilize the U.S.-allied country as it faces a resurgent threat from al-Qaida. The offensive, which started late Tuesday, followed claims by local officials and rebels that they had seized more of northern Saada province from government troops.
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Groundwater levels decrease dramatically in northern India
associated press
A man irrigates his field with an electric water pump at Bagh Jap village, about 34 miles east of Gauhati, India, Tuesday. NEW DELHI (AP) — Excessive irrigation and the unrelenting thirst of tens of millions of people are causing groundwater levels in northern India to drop dramatically, a problem that could lead to severe water shortages, according to a study released Wednesday. The study comes as India's struggles with water have become a major political issue. The problem reaches across the country's vast class divide, touching everyone from residents of elite neighborhoods where the taps regularly go dry to poor farmers in desperate need of irrigation to grow their crops. Giving free electricity to farmers — who use that electricity to pump more groundwater — has become a common promise by campaigning politicians. That, though, simply makes the problem worse. "This issue is of grave importance," said K. Sreelakshmi, a nat-
Thursday, August 13, 2009
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ural resource economist at New Delhi's Energy and Resources Institute, TERI. Sreelakshmi, who was not connected to the study, noted that previous research projects had revealed lowering groundwater, though this one used a new approach by relying on satellite data. "The question is what do we do about the problem," she said. "How do we recharge" India's dropping water table? The study, led by Matthew Rodell of the United States' NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, indicated that groundwater across a swath of India from New Delhi into heavily farmed agricultural belts dropped at a rate of 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) per year between August 2002 and October 2008. That decrease in groundwater is more than double the capacity of India's largest reservoir. The study noted that the drop
in groundwater came in years where there was no shortage of rainfall to cause a natural decline. The region, though, has seen an enormous increase in water use since the 1960s. Part of that is because of the growing population, though even more resulted from the so-called Green Revolution, which dramatically increased India's agricultural production — in part by exponentially expanding the use of groundwater for irrigation. "Severe groundwater depletion is occurring as a result of human consumption," the researchers concluded in the study, released online in the journal Nature. The study was based largely on data provided by GRACE — the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment — a satellite system launched in 2002 by NASA and the German Aerospace Center. GRACE allows scientists to estimate changes in groundwater storage by measuring tiny variations in the Earth's gravitational pull. Another recent study based on GRACE data, using results from a 1,200-mile (2,000-kilometer) swath across eastern Pakistan, northern India and into Bangladesh, showed about 1.9 million cubic feet (54 cubic kilometers) of groundwater lost per year. That study, in Geophysical Research Letters, was led by geophysicists Virendra Tiwari of the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad, India; John Wahr of the University of Colorado, Boulder; and Sean Swenson of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. "This is probably the largest rate of groundwater loss in any comparable-sized region on Earth," that study said.
Word on the Street
“Do the emergency phones on campus make you feel safe?” “I don’t think so, but anything that can help you is beneficial.” -Dimitri Krouchee, economics sophomore
“They don’t provide much security. I would probably use my own phone.” -Kelly Martorana, animal science senior
“It is reassuring that they’re there. I would rather have the option to use them.” -Andrew Tilton, biomedical engineering junior
“No not really. I only notice them because they are blue.” -Aisling Fearon, architecture senior
compiled and photographed by alex kacik
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“Time Traveler’s Wife” skips past substance Christy Lemire associated press
LOS ANGELES (AP) —So let’s try to get this straight, here. In “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” Eric Bana plays a guy named Henry who jumps around the past, present and future, only he can’t control where or when he goes. Supposedly, he also can’t control how he gets back where he came from, except for when he tries certain tricks to place himself in a state of mind to time travel. Even then there’s no way to guarantee which version of Henry will show up: the same one who left or a younger or older version of himself. Still, he manages to hold down a job at a Chicago library and maintain an apartment, makeshift as it is. The only constant seems to be that when he shows up at his destination, he’s always naked. (Somehow, Henry has found time between all his travels to hit the gym.) Hunky as he is, he’d be a frustrating guy to fall in love with, or even date. Women like stability, you know. But Rachel McAdams’ character, Clare, must be made of stronger stuff than the rest of us, because not only does she tolerate Henry’s pesky inconsistency, she believes he’s her destiny, and that he has been since the first time she saw him as a precocious 6-year-old girl (played by Brooklynn Proulx). The core of “The Time Traveler’s Wife” is their struggle to
alan markfield associated press
Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana in New Line Cinema’s romanic drama, “The Time Traveler’s Wife” opens Friday. stay together. Director Robert Schwentke’s film, based on the Audrey Niffenegger bestseller, breezes through their relationship, including the fact that Clare and Henry’s meet-cute is more like a meet-creepy. He’s a thirtysomething man who shows up wearing no clothes in the meadow behind her parents’ house, asks to borrow her picnic blanket and just starts talking
TV Academy: All Emmys to be presented live
chris pizzello associated press
Actors Jim Parsons and Chandra Wilson reveal nominations for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. LOS ANGELES (AP) — The television academy is scrapping its “time-shifting” plans and will present all 28 Emmy Awards during the September telecast. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced last month that it would pre-tape eight awards presentations and acceptance speeches, including some in the writing category. Members of the Writers Guild of America blasted the academy for the plan in a letter signed by some of the top TV showrunners. The academy says the decision was made to “mend relationships within the television community”
and allow the telecast producer to focus on “creative elements” during the live show. The Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild issued separate statements Wednesday applauding the decision. “We appreciate that the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has decided to present all 28 awards live on this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards,” the WGA statement read. “We look forward to developing a more collaborative relationship between the Writers Guild and the Academy.” The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards will air at 8 p.m. Sept. 20.
to her. This doesn’t freak her out at all — where is the stranger-danger lesson, people? — presumably because she knows, even at this tender age, that she is cosmically meant to be with him. Maybe it’s more plausible on the written page — or maybe you just have to be a hopeless romantic, and willing to shut off the part of your brain that craves logic, to enjoy this.
But strangely, in the script from Bruce Joel Rubin (an Oscar winner for “Ghost,” a supernatural love story that actually made sense) the time-travel gimmick supersedes any sort of substance, depth or character development. Bana and McAdams try their best to win us over to this complicated conceit with enormously earnest performances. McAdams shows some
of the same dramatic capabilities that helped make her a star in “The Notebook.” As for Bana, this is a rare and welcome opportunity to see him play the romantic lead, for which his dark good looks and strong presence would seem to make him a natural. And the ever-reliable character actor Stephen Tobolowsky grounds things somewhat as the geneticist who tries to help Henry and Clare forge some sort of normal life. Still, we’re left wondering afterward, how do these people feel about this extraordinary situation in which they’ve found themselves? In theory, indeterminate time traveling would wreak havoc with even the most mundane daily activities: grocery shopping, sitting at a red light, parentteacher conferences. Speaking of which, Henry and Clare eventually have a daughter to whom they pass on the time-travel gene, but it doesn’t seem to bother the kid, either. Really? You’re 5 years old, playing hopscotch with your buddies during recess, and poof!You disappear. Wouldn’t that be slightly disturbing? “The Time Traveler’s Wife” doesn’t seem interested in crawling inside her head, either. It’s too busy trying to tug at our hearts. “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” a New Line Cinema release, is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, brief disturbing images, nudity and sexuality. Running time: 107 minutes. Two stars out of four.
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Beware your wall:
Facebook makes hiring more subjective A recent college graduate walks into a job interview with a prestigious company: Expensive suit? Check. A resume boasting the most impressive accomplishments? Check. Perfect answers to all questions? Check. A job offer? Nope. In an age where social networking is becoming as mainstream as listing your name in the White Pages, students are discovering that their Facebook profiles can work for or against them when employers look to social networking sites to prescreen potential employees. When the man in a sleek suit who aced an interview on Monday does not match up with the man pictured passed out in an alley in a Facebook photo album titled, “Blacked Out Bar Hop,” emp l o y e r s might reject someone who on paper appears an ideal employee. According to a 2008 survey by CarreerBuilder.com, 22 percent of employers said they look at applicants’ social networking sites in the hiring process, and an additional 9 percent plan to do the same soon. While some students might feel that this is a violation of their privacy, many agree that employers have the right to screen potential employees via Facebook. Cal Poly graduate student Gil Diaz said, “If you don’t want someone to see something, don’t put it on the Internet or set your profile to private. I feel like if you are posting on the Internet, then it’s fair game.” Whether you have something to hide, Facebook clearly writes in its terms of agreement, that
“you post User Content on the Site at your own risk. Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your pages, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other Users with whom you may choose to share your pages and information.” Facebook is a public forum, meaning that users’ information is open to anyone. Privacy settings are available, however, to limit who can view your profile. To get a rough idea of how many Cal Poly students use the privacy settings, I randomly clicked on 50 Cal Poly students’ profiles. Of those 50, 34 were blocked. Of the 16 that I was
able to view, nine had pictures that displayed drinking, drugs or other scandalous behavior. What remains ambiguous is how severely employers judge potential employees’ profiles. While I do not believe that how a person behaves in a professional environment Monday through Friday is necessarily connected to how they choose to spend their free time, I would hope that most employers are not unreasonably critical about what they view on Facebook pages. Kicking back at a party with a beer in hand on a weekend should not prevent someone from
getting hired. However, a picture of someone recklessly drinking on several occasions who is applying to be an alcohol and drug counselor could presumably be a deal breaker. While judging a potential employee from a picture at a party is one thing, judging someone based on their gender, religious views, political views, sexual orientation or marital status (all information which people can choose to display on Facebook) is against the law. An employer would never ask someone in an interview what their political views are or what religion they follow because it is against the law to discriminate based on those factors. There is no way, h oweve r, to determine whether a potential e m p l oye e was rejected because of a picture. Rather than worrying about how one’s Facebook profile affects their chances of being hired, people can tim brinton newsart make their profiles work in their favor. While Facebook is generally used as a way to connect with friends, social networking doesn’t have to just be a place to post party pictures, comment back and forth with friends and update your friends on what you are eating for dinner. Instead, social networking sites can be used to build visibility and credibility, to post work clips and to stay updated with developments in your field. Katie Koschalk is a journalism junior and a Mustang Daily reporter
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letters to the editor Professors aren’t the only ones experiencing budget woes In last week’s article “Fate of faculty furloughs finalized after CFA vote,” I was disturbed by some of the comments by faculty member Lewis Call. I completely understand his financial struggles, as I’m sure that most other students do too: many of us have been directly affected by the crisis as well. However, I believe his gripe about decreased pay with no decreased workload is completely out of line. Does he not realize that the rest of us are having to do the same? That in times like these the budget crisis doesn’t just fix itself? Certainly the budget deficit will not be closed by simply holding our breath and hoping we can get by without our way of life being affected. Surely all of our ways of life will be somewhat affected, but if everyone is willing to make minor sacrifices, the situation will be rectified much sooner and with much less hardship than otherwise. I believe Lewis Call’s statements show a lack of respect for his students as well as other citizens that are bearing a burden that he is obviously unwilling to bear himself. Peter Kelly Civil engineering sophomore
“I agree that moving home can be a practical way to save significantly on living expenses, regardless of if you landed a job or not, but the idea that moving back home can give you time to ‘find yourself ’ before jumping into a career is absurd. Anyone who has not had the time to figure out what they want to do with their lives during college needs to lay off the partying and spend more time thinking about their schoolwork and their career!” —Jeff Response to “BLOG: Why ‘boomerang kids’ move home” “It amazes me how many people I see talking on cell phones still. What is so important that cannot wait five min! .... Think about how important that call or text is, is it worth the life of another human being?” —Cameron Response to “Driving under the influence of a cell phone”
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July 16, 2009 Volume LXXIII, No. 4 ©2009 Mustang Daily “I wanna beat up a girl...”
NOTE: The Mustang Daily features select comments that are written in response to articles posted online. Though not all the responses are printed, the Mustang Daily prints comments that are coherent and foster intelligent discussion on a given subject.
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Crawford takes position with USA Track and Field mUstanG daily staFF report
Cal Poly track and field director Terry Crawford announced Wednesday that she will leave the program after 18 seasons to accept a position with USA Track and Field as Director of Coaching. “I have been part of the Cal Poly program for a long time, so Terry Crawford
this was a difficult decision to make, but an opportunity I could not pass up,” Crawford said in a release. “The program is in good shape and I look forward to following the team’s success.” During her tenure, Cal Poly captured seven men’s Big West Conference titles and two women’s titles and delivered the school’s first Olympic gold medalist in 2008, discus champion Stephanie Brown Trafton. In 2005, Crawford helped develop Cal Poly’s ninth national champion as Sharon Day, another future Olympian, would win the high jump.
Crawford came to Cal Poly with a 20-year pedigree built at the Universities of Texas and Tennessee. Her 1986 Texas squad is the only team in the history of women’s Division I track and field which has won the Triple Crown after capturing national titles in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, all in the same year. As a competitor, Crawford won an 800 meter national championship at Tennessee. She was also a finalist at the 1968 and 1972 Olympic trials. Crawford was elected to the Lady Vol’s Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Longhorns’ Hall of Fame in 2007.
“I am very excited about this next phase in my career,” Crawford said. “To be able to elevate USATF’s service to coaches, and by extension, to athletes, is something I could not pass up. I am looking forward to being part of this new era.” Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone will begin the process of finding the school’s first new track and field director in over 14 years. “This is a great opportunity for Terry to work with the USATF,” Cone said in a statement.“We wish her the best as she moves into her new position.”
Giants avoid three-game sweep by Dodgers Janie McCauley associated press
SAN FRANCISCO — Tempers flared. Emotions ran wild. Benches cleared and managers were tossed. Everything one would expect from a Dodgers-Giants game, especially this year with both clubs in the playoff chase. Juan Uribe hit a game-ending two-run homer with one out in the 10th inning and San Francisco avoided a three-game sweep by archrival Los Angeles with a 4-2 victory Wednesday. Brian Wilson (4-5) pitched 1 1-3 innings with four strikeouts for the win on a crazy day in which the benches cleared and both Giants manager Bruce Bochy and bench coach — and acting manager — Ron Wotus were ejected in separate arguments. “I was watching the game here, there, everywhere. I got a good workout today,” Bochy said of what he did after his secondinning ejection. “It was an intense game, an important game and a lot happened. ... I was worried about running out of managers today.” Travis Ishikawa drew a leadoff walk in the 10th from Guillermo Mota (3-4), and Randy Winn flied out before Uribe connected for his fifth homer. Tim Lincecum pitched into the ninth and had only allowed two hits before Rafael Furcal beat out an infield single. Andre Ethier hit a tying RBI single two batters later. “The people got what they wanted to see,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “Lincecum was amazing, as he always is. Just two
Dodgers catcher Russell Martin, right, argues with San Francisco’s Pablo Sandoval during the Giants’ 4-2 victory. ballclubs fighting.” The Giants pulled within 6½ games of the first-place Dodgers in the NL West, but missed several key opportunities in this one and stranded 12 baserunners. Uribe left seven runners on before his home run. San Francisco’s Pablo Sandoval — at the center of a fifth-inning dustup — doubled with one out in the ninth but stood for several moments before running, thinking his ball was a home run. Bengie Molina was intentionally walked, then pinch-hitter Aaron Rowand grounded into an inning-ending double play. Furcal’s single with one out in the ninth caused Wotus to run out and argue before he was tossed. Third base coach Tim Flannery took over managerial duties and still did his job on the field. Furcal also had an RBI groundout in the sixth for the Dodgers’ first run. Los Angeles swept the Giants at Dodger Stadium earlier this season but missed a chance to sweep at San Francisco for the first time since July 13-15, 2007.
Los Angeles concluded a stretch of 20 games in 20 days, dating to July 24 against Florida. The Dodgers have a day off Thursday before a weekend series at Arizona. San Francisco, meanwhile, leaves for a season-high, 11-game road trip with some momentum from this crazy game — witnessed by a sellout crowd of 43,300. The benches cleared in the bottom of the fifth inning but no punches were thrown and there were no ejections. Sandoval claimed he was hit near his left elbow on an inside pitch from James McDonald, gesturing and pointing at the pitcher. Dodgers catcher Russell Martin then had words with Sandoval, and Edgar Renteria raced out of San Francisco’s dugout as both benches emptied. Moments earlier, Eugenio Velez came hard into home and collided with Martin as the Giants took a 1-0 lead. “Just the emotions flying. He said some words to James McDonald, I said some words back to him, benches cleared,” Martin said. “No punches thrown or anything like that. Just a verbal confrontation.”
Sandoval later walked. “They said it hit the bat. I tried to show them the mark but they wouldn’t go for it,” Sandoval said. “I was reacting to getting hit. I don’t want to do something like (charging, yelling at the pitcher or catcher) that. I want to stay in the game. I didn’t know what was going on until I reached first base. I wanted to get to a place where I could calm down.” Bochy was already long gone. He was tossed by first base umpire Gary Darling for arguing the Giants’ unsuccessful pickoff attempt of Manny Ramirez. It marked the fourth time Bochy has been ejected this season and the second time this series after getting tossed Monday night. Jeff Weaver, Los Angeles’ reliable swingman, came out of the bullpen to start. He replaced Chad Billingsley, who was scratched from this outing Monday because of a mild left hamstring strain. Weaver went three scoreless innings, allowing two hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
Mustangs picked third in Big West mUstanG daily staFF report
The Cal Poly men’s soccer team was picked to finish third in the Big West preseason coaches poll. Cal Poly (11-6-6, 5-2-3 last season) returns seven outfield starters and two All-Big West selections from a 2008 squad that matched the program record for total victories and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 seasons. The Mustangs would pick up their first Division I postseason victory, 1-0 over UCLA to advance to the second round before falling to UC Irvine. The Anteaters (15-2-6, 5-1-4), last year’s regular season and conference tournament champion, picked up two first place votes to finish second in the poll with 40 points. UC Santa Barbara (10-7-5, 5-2-3) finished first with four first place votes and 45 points. Cal State Northridge (8-7-4, 4-3-3) received the final first place vote, finishing two points behind Cal Poly. The Mustangs fell to UC Santa Barbara 1-0 in double overtime last year in what would become the third highest attended regular season soccer match in collegiate history. The Gauchos would also defeat Cal Poly in penalty kicks in the Big West Semifinals, but the Mustangs would earn an atlarge bid to the NCAA Tournament. Cal Poly will host San Diego State in an exhibition match Aug. 26 before officially kicking off the season at home against UNLV on Sept. 1.